From Memory to Meaning: Reflections on the 2025 Leo Martin March of the Living
Posted on 05/23/2025 @ 06:00 AM
At the end of April, more than 55 participants from Miami, including high school seniors and staff, traveled to Poland for CAJE’s Leo Martin March of the Living.
Although this year’s journey did not continue to Israel, the connection to Israel was present throughout-- woven into the educational framing, the reflective moments, and many of the sites that were visited in Poland.
In Kraków, we walked through once-vibrant Jewish neighborhoods.
At Majdanek, Auschwitz, and Birkenau, we bore witness to the horrors of the Holocaust.
At Treblinka, our group joined the Miami Adult March of the Living delegation, led by Mel Mann and the Friends of the March of the Living, for a moving ceremony remembering those whose lives were taken there.
We were honored to be accompanied by two Holocaust Survivors, Allan Hall and Laszlo Selly.
Students visited the location in Warsaw where Allan was hidden as a child, hearing his story in the very space where it unfolded. It was an unforgettable moment that brought history off of the page and into lived experience.
Laszlo Selly, who grew up in Hungary, became a voice of strength and memory, reminding students that survival is only the beginning. It is what we do with our memory that defines our future.
This year, more than any previous Miami March of the Living program, students brought their own personal histories to the forefront as 11 student participants shared their own family Holocaust testimonies with the entire group.
These powerful moments allowed the students to learn firsthand how memory is passed from one generation to the next, and how each of us can become the voice of remembrance for the future.
Staying in Poland for a full ten days allowed students the time to process, decompress, and return home with hope rather than despair.
In Płońsk, the birthplace of David Ben-Gurion, students participated in a Zionist leadership program exploring the complexity of Israeli society and the ongoing dream of a Jewish homeland.
Later on, our teens engaged in open, respectful dialogue through a meaningful exchange with Polish high school students, learning to listen and speak with both courage and care.
As part of their final reflections, students participated in the “Stickers of Meaning” program.
They learned about an Israeli phenomenon of what looks like “bumper stickers” that were created by families of individuals who were killed in Israel on or after October 7.
These stickers carry messages and mottos, symbols and slogans that the families believe best reflect the essence of their loved one. And they are plastered all over Israel on almost every public space wall.
Our students then created their own messages connected to Jewish identity, resilience, and unity.
Each of these activities enabled our teens to consider how their connection to Israel continues to evolve in the face of today’s challenges and how Israel continues to give Jews hope after the Holocaust.
On Yom HaShoah, our delegation joined thousands from around the world in the march from Auschwitz to Birkenau. Wrapped in Israeli flags, walking in solemn unity, their steps affirmed memory, dignity, and Jewish life.
The 2025 Leo Martin March of the Living gave our teens the opportunity to reflect deeply, connect personally, and return home with a renewed sense of purpose.
From now on, they are witnesses, carriers of memory, and voices for the Jewish future.
Valerie Nichols shares her experience of the 2025 March. https://youtu.be/awVH24czOc8?si=fCeK14xq0aQtUOB6
|
