Activists taunt Jews at Auschwitz on Holocaust Remembrance Day

On Monday, as Jews marked Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, the day commemorating the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust, pro-Hamas activists taunted Jews at the 36^th International March of the Living at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in Poland.

Participants in the march, who included 56 survivors of the Holocaust, walked the two-mile path from Auschwitz to Birkenau, where one million of the six million murdered Jews were killed. The activists waved Palestinian flags and a banner emblazoned “Stop genocide in Gaza” and shouted “Free, free Palestine” while one yelled, “How dare you disrespect the victims of the Holocaust by cheering, as a new genocide is happening in Gaza. Your mothers are watching you! Show some respect!” The Times Of Israel reported, adding, “The participants of the March of the Living respond with a thunderous singing of ‘Hatikvah,’ Israel’s national anthem.”

The International March of the Living released a statement saying, “The half a dozen protestors who perversely saw this as an opportunity to voice hatred against Israel and the Jewish people serve as a timely reminder of the importance of Holocaust education and remembrance, and of teaching the dangers of hatred and extremism.“

“I feel immense anger,” an Israeli participant in the march told Ynetnews. “If we thought never again, we received another blow to the head at Auschwitz with the realization that what was done to Jews on this cursed land, could be repeated especially after October 7. I face them fearless and proud with our national flag.”

“Poland, which until the Holocaust was the home of Europe’s largest Jewish community, numbering some 3.3 million, now counts just a few thousand Jewish inhabitants in its population,” The Daily Mail noted.

“This year’s March of the Living holds profound significance, as the horrors of the past intertwine with the present ongoing nightmare faced by the State of Israel. The recent incomprehensible massacre on October 7 serves as a constant reminder of the persistent threat posed by antisemitic hatred,” Dr. Shmuel Rosenman, chairman, and Phyllis Greenberg Heideman, president of the International March of the Living, declared.

“This year, more than ever, we understand why preserving the memory of the Holocaust is still essential. Fighting against the continuous and overwhelming wave of antisemitism, makes the March of the Living’s mission to remember more important and more relevant than ever. We will strenuously continue to teach about the history of the Holocaust, and we will continue to stand together against antisemitism,” they stated.