March of the Living marks 80 years since liquidation of Lodz ghetto

The International March of the Living last week commemorated 80 years since the liquidation of Ghetto Lodz, the second largest ghetto in Nazi-occupied Europe after Warsaw.

500 participants, including Polish officials and ambassadors from 12 countries gathered to honour the memory of those who suffered and perished during one of the darkest chapters of history.

Sponsored by International March of the Living, The Social and Cultural Association of Jews in Poland (TSKZ), the Lodz Archdiocese and the Jewish Community of Lodz, the central ceremony was held at the historic Radegast train station, where the last transport from Ghetto Lodz departed 80 years ago, on August 29, 1944.

Participants of the march walked the historic route that once bore witness to the suffering of the ghetto’s inhabitants. At the Radegast station, wreaths were laid and prayers offered in memory of the victims. The ceremony was followed by a march to the Monument to the Martyrdom of Children, the Monument to Poles Saving Jews in the Survivors’ Park and the Roma Forge, ending at the Monument to the Decalogue in Lodz.

This transport marked the final phase of the ghetto’s liquidation, during which thousands of Jews were deported to extermination camps, including Auschwitz and Chelmno.

The event not only commemorated the tragedy of these deportations but also served as a powerful reminder of the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable atrocities.

A number of aging Holocaust survivors attended, including 98-year-old Leon Weintraub, who survived Ghetto Lodz, four concentration camps, as well as a death march; and noted Holocaust Survivor Marian Turski, who insisted on joining the ceremony and marching together with those assembled.

Michel Gourary, Director of the European March of the Living spoke at the Radegast train station and said: “We are here today, 80 years after the last train left this station for Auschwitz on August 29, 1944. We gather to remember those who suffered in the Łódź Ghetto and to share some lesser-known stories of resilience, courage and strength. Our aim at the March of the Living is to educate the young generation to learn from the tragic past of the Holocaust, in order to build a better future. We must ensure that what happened during the Holocaust is never forgotten.”

Ghetto Lodz, established in February 1940, was one of the most significant sites of Jewish suffering and resistance during the Holocaust. At its peak, it housed more than 160,000 Jews, who were forced into labour under brutal conditions.

By the time the ghetto was liquidated in 1944, more than 200,000 Jews had passed through it, with the vast majority being sent to their deaths.

The destruction of Polish Jewry was nearly complete by the end of the war, with over 90% of Poland’s pre-war Jewish population of 3.3 million perishing in the Holocaust.

The march took place as part of March of the Living’s regular memorial events throughout Europe on the local and national Holocaust memorial days where Jews lived and perished.