The Nazis’ double victimisation of Jews, by forcing some of them to be a part of the process of the deaths of their people, was a new aspect of evil I had not really contemplated enough previously and chilled me to my core.
The visit culminated with a trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau, a network of camps, including the infamous base camp, Auschwitz I, with the ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ sign at its entrance, and Birkenau, Auschwitz II, the largest of the Nazi concentration and extermination camps.
In total, 1.3 million were deported there from 1940-45, 1.1 million of whom were Jews, of whom 90 per cent perished in the gas chambers. The ‘March of the Living’, was a walk from Auschwitz I to Birkenau, led by our incredible survivors. It is an indescribable feeling to be part of a group of Jews walking freely in and out of Auschwitz. It didn’t matter what our religious observance was, nor our education, occupation, or politics.
As we marched, it was clearer than ever. We are one people.
Each person who visits a site of the Holocaust, listens to a survivor, reads a testimony, educates themselves – becomes a witness. All of us became witnesses with a duty to pass on the torch to the next generation, to ensure we never forget each of the six million. The Jewish people survived; we are here.
*Talia Ingleby, is International Relations Officer Board of Deputies of British Jews and member of the World Jewish Congress Jewish Diplomat Corps.