Once you listen to a witness you make him a witness.
Our task is essentially to listen to those stories and to hear those stories.
I was there.
I'm coming here to tell people what happened.
It isn’t often we see history where it happened.
We read about it in books, watch documentary footage, even see artifacts at museums if
we’re lucky.
But in Oswichim, Poland, history is everywhere.
It’s in the stillness of the villages.
The air you breathe.
And of course — the places you see.
It’s the site of Auschwitz-Birkenau; the largest of the Nazi concentration and death
camps.
It’s where more than one million Jews, at that site alone, were chosen to die early,
painful deaths.
And once a year — these living structures that tell the stories of genocide meet the
people who survived it.
Excuse me.
Right now we're going to block 11.
Block 11 is known as a death block.
Usually whoever came in here, they never survive.
I have a friend who did survive.
My name is Edward Mosberg and I am a holocaust survivor.
Ed is one of about 70 Holocaust survivors leading nearly 15,000 people on the March
of the Living.
They walk with purpose.
There was that concern.
What is going to happen when the survivors can no longer be with us to tell the story?
The goal is simple. To put a face and a story to the Holocaust so no one ever forgets the devastation.
I lost my whole family.
I'm coming here to tell the truth.
Lies don't bring us no place.
This march has been around for 30 years and in that time, more than 260,000 people, Jews
and non Jews alike, from 52 different countries have participated in the march.
Each year they walk this same 3 kilometer path from Auschwitz to Birkenau.
I got a chill, a real chill — my whole body once entering the gates walking down the side
next to the railroad.
It felt like I stepped through a portal.
For the survivors, this program is about teens like Amitai Afenjar and Joey Cavallo.
Jewish teens getting ready to graduate and live their lives.
Their future bright ahead of them.
But for a moment, the persecution of the past — is staring them in the face.
I felt the inside of myself and my Jewish identity cry out.
At the same time I felt very connected to the Jewish people
So they march.
It begins at Auschwitz — where Jews were sent to work and to die.
It ends at Birkenau, a death camp.
There, there was almost no working.
Most Jews were walked straight from the train to their deaths.
At the height of the Holocaust, it became the busiest train station in all of Europe.
So busy, no one knows exactly how many people came through.
But at least a million were murdered.
As Marchers begin their 3 kilometer walk, they’re met by an unexpected crowd.
There was a group of people.
They were shouting we love Jews.
Were sorry what our ancestors did to you.
They came out not necessarily for the march but for supporting people on the march.
I started tearing up because I’m so happy there are people in this world who care enough
to show support to Jews.
So they march — hand in hand — generations linked — even if for only a moment.
Passing on their stories.
Every painful detail.
Both the Israeli and Polish presidents speak at a time when anti semitic tensions are once
again rising, and both groups are being confronted with how much responsibility Poland should
bear for their involvement in the Holocaust.
Polish President Andre Duda saya Poles share the duty of preserving the memory of the murdered.
He believes it's on the witnesses — Jewish or not — to make sure this never happens
again.
And the way to do that — is through telling stories.
That's why it's important to listen.
So when survivors are no longer there to share their account, someone else can.
And someone else will.
I feel like it's my mission to let the world know this happened.
And we're still here.