60 Holocaust survivors lead Hungary’s March of the Living
Procession with 5,000 participants marks 80 years since the liberation of Europe from Nazi rule
Sixty Holocaust survivors have led the March of the Living in Hungary, joined by 5,000 participants in remembrance of the more than 550,000 Hungarian Jews murdered during the Holocaust.
Of them 437,000, were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau between May and July 1944 – one of the most rapid deportation operations of the Shoah.
The march took place in Jewish memorial sites in Budapest, including the Shoes on the Danube Bank Memorial, Jerusalem Park, and the main stage in front of Várkert Bazár, where speeches, performances, and tributes were held.
Survivors, students, educators, and public figures attended the event, honouring the memory of the victims and reaffirming the importance of Holocaust education and historical accountability.
The commemoration took place in conjunction with the 80th anniversary of liberation and the end of the war and was part of broader educational efforts of the International March of the Living, which each year brings together thousands of participants from around the world to march in Europe, to preserve the memory of the Holocaust and promote values of tolerance amid a rise in antisemitism and hatred in all its forms.
Michel Gourary, director for Europe of the International March of the Living, said: “We must teach our children that history is not distant. That evil can wear a familiar face. That prejudice, once normalized, becomes law. That silence, once accepted, becomes complicity. We must educate the young generations not to be bystanders but to act. The March of the Living is not only about remembering the past. It is about educating future generations to stand against antisemitism and bigotry in all its forms.”
Last month, at the International March of the Living in Poland, 150 Hungarian high school students and their teachers marched with dozens of Hungarian Holocaust survivors and descendants from all over the world.
Holocaust survivor Israel Shaked, who participated in the march in Poland, was born in Hungary in 1942. In 1943, his father was taken for forced labour, fell ill with tuberculosis, and died shortly after.
When the Germans invaded Hungary, Shaked’s family was forced into the Debrecen ghetto, enduring months of violence, hunger, and disease. They were then deported by train toward Auschwitz, but the train was re-routed to Vienna to supply forced labour after Allied bombings.
After months in Vienna, they were sent on a death march to Mauthausen. Shaked was liberated in May 1945 from a sub-camp and began the journey home—only to find they were no longer welcome. In 1947, the family moved to Israel.
Speaking at the March of the Living in Poland, Shaked said: “It is our duty to preserve and protect the memory of the Holocaust forever. We, and the whole world, must remember the Holocaust for all generations, and never allow our enemies to rise again. My message to the world today: I was a witness to the darkness. I choose hope. Do not let hatred win. Never again—for anyone, anywhere, at any time.”
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