1-2 May 2019, Kraków, Republic of Poland: US State Department despatched its very first ambassadorial delegation to the “March of the Living”, an annual Holocaust commemoration in Poland.
The Trump administration sent a sizeable delegation, led by U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who was joined by: Ambassador to Georgette Mosbacher [to Poland]; Ambassador Richard Grenell [to Germany]; Ambassador Callista Gingrich [to the Holy See]; Ambassador Ed McMullen [to Switzerland and Liechtenstein]; Ambassador Duke Buchan [to Spain]; Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism Elan Carr as well as the Chairman of the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad Paul Packer.
The March of the Living is a procession from the infamous gate holding the engraved slogan “Arbeit macht frei” of the Auschwitz concentration camp to the entrance of the Birkenau death camp, three kilometers away.
The march includes Holocaust survivors and their families, as well as youth groups, civil society organisations as well as government officials — usually from Poland and Israel.
Albeit a rather sombre occasion, the March of the Living likewise celebrates the continuity of Jewish life, and the success of the State of Israel, in defiance of those who sought to extinguish the Jewish people during the Second World War, and those who continue to do thus.
For further information International March of the Living: https://motl.org
Image by US Consulate in Kraków, Poland, Public Domain.
