The March of the Living held a solemn March of Remembrance in Łódź, Poland, on Aug. 29 to mark 81 years since the liquidation of its ghetto, one of the largest established by Germany during the Holocaust.
Holocaust survivor Leon Weintraub, 99, who was deported from Łódź to Auschwitz as a teenager, joined the mayor, dignitaries and community members in retracing the route from the Jewish cemetery to Radegast Station—the site of the last transport of Jews to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Weintraub, who went on to survive imprisonment in multiple camps before being liberated, shared his testimony with participants, urging the younger generation to remain vigilant amid rising antisemitism.
“The memory of the Holocaust guarantees that something like this will never happen again. The worst thing is forgetting. We are all born human, and I hope that you remain human,” said Weintraub.
Michel Gourary, director of the European March of the Living, warned of rising Jew-hatred and called for the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism.
“The March of the Living is not only about memory, it is about responsibility, vigilance and the promise of a better future,” he said.
The commemoration event was organized in partnership with the City of Łódź, regional and Jewish community organizations, and the Marek Edelman Dialogue Center.
A total of 210,000 Jews passed through the Łódź Ghetto, aka the Litzmannstadt Ghetto (after the Nazi German name for Łódź). Only 877, including 12 children, were alive when the Red Army arrived on Jan. 19, 1945.
The March of the Living’s next major remembrance event will take place in Lithuania on Sept. 19, 2026, to honor the victims of the Holocaust in that country, where more than 90% of the Jewish population was murdered.