As an organization dedicated to the growth of the Jewish people and the Land and State of Israel, KKL-JNF is a central partner with the international March of the Living organization. Following a difficult trip to Poland culminating in the March of the Living at Auschwitz, each year thousands of young people from around the world come to Israel to celebrate Independence Day and witness the miraculous rebirth of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland following the horrors of the Holocaust.Â
The cooperation with the March of the Living organization gives expression to the link between the memory of the Holocaust and rebirth. The experience that KKL-JNF provides connects the young generation to love of the country and to the power of the Jewish people in its rebirth. (Hani Desa, Director, KKL-JNF Overseas Department – Education Division)
Program Goals:
- To strengthen the connection between young Jews around the world and the people and State of Israel.
- To create a direct encounter between Israeli youth and Jewish youth from the Diaspora.
- To introduce participants to Zionism and the Land of Israel.
In the following video (03:12), Jewish youth from around the world share their emotional experiences mourning at the death camps in Poland followed by getting to know the land, people and State of Israel. Perhaps the greatest contrast is the March of the Living at Auschwitz followed by the festive march to the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Israel’s 69th Independence Day.