The March of Life: A memorial and reconciliation event at historic sights of the Holocaust in Europe. “For Zion’s sake I will not be silent.” The descendants of German Nazi perpetrators find words that their fathers and grandfathers could not find.
This year, the March of Life will take place in Latvia on July 3-4, 2011, and in Lithuania on September 22-25, 2011.
In Latvia, the focus of the March of Life this year will be on the region of Latgalia (Latgale) in the south-eastern part of the country. Before the war, this region had the highest percentage of Jewish people. Over 90 percent were killed by the German death squads and their local auxiliaries in the Holocaust. On July 3, Christian churches will have Marches of Life in Daugavpils (German: Dünaburg) and surrounding towns. In the evening, there will be a central memorial service. In Riga, the March of Life cooperates with Rabbi Menachem Barkahan and the Riga Ghetto and Latvian Holocaust Museum. On July 4, the March of Life will take part in the “Dzīvo gājiens,” the “Steps of Life” in downtown Riga.
In Lithuania, the main March will take place in Kaunas, in the center of Lithuania, on September 22-23, 2011. Christian pastors in that city have welcomed the March of Life together with the Jewish community. On September 24-25, 2011, local Christian churches will organize the March in the capital of Vilnius and in other Lithuanian cities.
In 1941, even before Auschwitz, the systematic annihilation of the Jews began in the Baltic States. Nowhere else was the killing done with such a drive, brutality, and efficiency as there. Pogroms by the local population and systematic mass murder by German SS paramilitary death squads with the extensive help of local collaborators caused 85 percent of the Baltic Jews to be killed within the first months (until the end of 1941) and almost the entire Jewish population by the end of 1944. Altogether, 95 percent of the Lithuanian Jews and 93 percent of the Latvian Jews died during the Holocaust; no other country saw a percentage that high. In Estonia, most of the 4,500 Jews living there at the time of the German invasion managed to flee. The remaining 1,000 Jews were annihilated within one year; only three survived the Holocaust in Estonia. As early as in 1942, at the Wannsee Conference, the national socialists labeled Estonia as “clear of Jews.”
Schedule in Latvia
Sat, 07/02/11 - Arrival
Travel to Daugavpils
Sun, 07/03/11 - Daugavpils
Morning: Services and sending-out in different cities of the Latgalia Region
Afternoon: March of Life in different cities
Evening: Big service “Festival of Life” in Daugavpils with all the participants of the March of Life.
Mon, 07/04/11 - Riga
From 11:00AM: Participating in the “March of the Living“ in Riga, and closing the March of Life
Schedule in Lithuania
Thu, 09/22/11 - Kaunas
During the day: Arrival in Kaunas
Evening: Preparation service
Fri, 09/23/11 - Kaunas
Afternoon: March of Life in Kaunas
Evening: Shabbat Meal and Festival of Life
Sat, 09/24/11 – Different cities in Lithuania
During the day: Travel to different cities
Evening: Preparation service
Sun, 09/25/11 – Different cities in Lithuania
Afternoon: March of Life in the different cities
Evening: Festival of Life in the cities
Registration and Participation
The following steps are necessary in order to participate:
1. Send us an e-mail to register.
2. Receive further information via e-mail.
3. The fee of $150 will be payable upon arrival.
4. Participants will be responsible for their own travel, transportation and accommodation during the March of Life in Lithuania. However we will provide suggestions for travel routes, hotels, rental cars. etc.
To register and get more information, e-mail us at info(at)marchoflife.org.
Information on the March of Life Movement
You can find further information on the past Marches as well as the March of Life Movement on our website: www.marchoflife.org
