Seven thousand join 2026 March of the Living from Auschwitz to Birkenau

Former Israeli hostages and survivors of antisemitic terror attacks in both Sydney and Manchester joined Holocaust survivors on this year’s March of the Living, with thousands of Jewish and non-Jewish people of all ages taking part in the 38th annual event commemorating the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis. 

A 200-strong delegation from March of the Living UK were among those on the five-day educational journey, which included the now-famous 3km walk between Auschwitz and Birkenau, where more than 1.1 million Jews were killed.

Along the route, cordoned off by heavily armed police, marchers wore Israeli flags around them and held wooden placards bearing the names of lost loved ones.

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Among the 50 Holocaust survivors present were those who made their homes in the UK after the war, including Mala Tribich, Milly Horowitz, Jacques Weisser, Martin Stern and Barbara Frankiss. Others had managed to fly out from Israel at the last minute to attend the March, following the ceasefire with the Iranian regime. Nate Leipciger, a 98-year old survivor living in Canada, travelled from his home in Toronto to be at the March for the 22nd time,

Other notable participants were former hostages Agam Berger and Omri Miran, abducted by Hamas during the mass terror attack on 7 October, 2023, survivors from the 2025 Chanukkah massacre at Bondi Beach in Sydney and the Yom Kippur terror attack at Manchester’s Heaton Park synagogue, Sylvan Adams, son of Holocaust survivors and the president of the World Jewish Congress, international and interfaith dignitaries and a delegation of 130 police leaders from every continent.

Scott Saunders, founder and chairman of March of the Living UK and chief executive of March of the Living International, said: “As we marched the 3km from the gates of Auschwitz to the entrance to Birkenau, I looked back at the hill behind me and saw a sea of people walking. However, unlike the path that thousands took during the Shoah, here I saw life. 7000 people from all corners of the globe, over 50 Holocaust survivors, people of all faiths including a delegation of police chiefs from around the world.”

Saunders described the UK delegation as “a diverse group of individuals who have come together to march in unity, and for the memory of those murdered in this place.

“We learn from the past that our world is fragile, and yet standing with people from across the country, across the religious spectrum and across all faiths, we feel unity and solidarity. We can disagree on so many things, but here at least for this brief moment we are one.”

Jacques Weisser was just seven months old when his mother was taken from their home in Antwerp and deported to Auschwitz. She was murdered in the gas chambers the day she arrived. His father survived Auschwitz, two death marches, and Buchenwald. Decades later, accompanied by his devoted daughter Corinne, Jacques came back and recited Kaddish, his voice breaking with emotion.

Actress Louisa Clein,  whose mother survived the Holocaust as a hidden child in Amsterdam, told Jewish News: “This march combines the most extraordinary euphoria and the darkest of moments. We are witnessing the depths of horror – the vastness of the camps and the scale of the murder and I’ve also witnessed people from all around the world coming together to mourn and grieve and reclaim the joys of being Jewish. I have never felt prouder of my personal history, my heritage and my Jewishness and feel the responsibility in all its forms to keep telling the stories and bearing witness.”

Twenty-six year old Alex Randall from London, on the March for the first time alongside his mother, said: “Being accompanied by survivors has added another dimension to this experience – when the mind instinctively recoils from the darkness of what happened during the Holocaust, hearing their testimony compels you to face it.

“I have had the privilege of, at times, pushing Jacques in his wheelchair, and learning about his life before, during, and after. He is, quite simply, a remarkable man – his warmth and positivity infectious, his instinct to console those who grieve his story a quiet symbol of his character. Jacques embodies hope and is an inspiration to everyone, Jewish or not.”

Weisser responded in kind, saying: “Being at March of the Living has been outstanding in many ways, but especially being with Alex, a young man, a future generation so open minded and willing to give up his time to be with us as an entity. He is a marvellous young man and I’m hoping very much that being with me has given him a bit more hope that he might not have had before. Because without hope, there’s no way we’re going to go forward.”

Holocaust survivor Mala Tribich described the younger generation marching as being “very heartening. It’s good that they take the interest in coming here and looking at the past and trying to build a better future.”

Yoni Finlay, a survivor of the Heaton Park terror attack, told Jewish News: “I’ve taken a huge amount from being here. I feel a privilege and an honour to be here, to be alongside and to be with 1000s of other people who see the importance of what this means.

“It’s so important to come in, to be a witness and to learn from and to take that lesson forward and to make sure that what happened here never happens again.”