March of the Living prepares to mark Israel’s birthday online

The March of the Living programme is to mark the 73^rd anniversary of Israel’s statehood with a global broadcast that will include a celebration online.

The event, “Salute to Israel’s 73rd Birthday”, will feature Holocaust survivors who helped establish the country and the athlete Henry Hershkovitz, who survived the massacre at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Communities from over 25 countries will take part in the event with video and photographs they have submitted to capture what they see as Israel’s essence.

There will also be a festive tree planting ceremony and a celebration of the many migrants who made Aliyah to call the country their new home.

The annual programme that brings students from around the world together in Poland to march silently from Auschwitz to Birkenau has not been able to proceed since last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“This first-ever virtual celebration for Israel’s Yom Ha’atzmaut has been entirely produced by alumni of March of the Living for the benefit of our global Jewish community and friends of Israel,” said the organisation’s president, Phyllis Greenberg Heideman.

She said the inclusion of Holocaust survivors was a move to “remember, respect, and cherish their unique contribution for the Jewish State in the Land of Israel”.

The broadcast will be made available online for European audiences on April 15 ahead of a formal launch for viewers in the United States at 7.30pm ET (00.30am on April 16 in the UK).