A special delegation of National-Civic Service volunteers departed yesterday (Sunday) for the international March of the Living in Auschwitz. The march is part of this week’s events commemorating Holocaust Remembrance Day. The delegation is led by Reuven Pinsky, Director-General of the Authority for National-Civic Service. Pinsky, a third-generation descendant of Holocaust survivors, is marking a deeply personal and familial milestone through this journey.
A delegation representing the full spectrum of Israeli society
The delegation includes young men and women from all sectors of Israeli society: Jews, Muslims, Druze, and Christians; religious, ultra-Orthodox, and secular; participants from both central Israel and the periphery, as well as volunteers with disabilities. Over the course of their visit, the group will tour extermination camps, ghettos, memorial sites, and centers of Jewish heritage across Poland, including Treblinka, Majdanek, and the Children’s Forest near Tarnów. Together with thousands of participants from around the world, they will walk the 3.2-kilometer path from Auschwitz to Birkenau in memory of the six million, as part of the March of the Living.
“Adding another piece of history to my soul”
Before the march, Pinsky said: “This delegation embodies resilience, solidarity, and the spirit of Israeli volunteerism. The participants represent the full mosaic of Israeli society and bring with them a message of unity and social strength. They are traveling not only to remember, but also to draw strength and deepen their roots in building the nation in the Land of Israel. This is a moral victory over evil and antisemitism.”
Shani Sharon, a volunteer from the Upper Galilee, shared: “This year I’m volunteering with the elderly—those who carry history within their very bodies. Taking part in such a journey is a tremendous privilege for me. I hope to draw strength and add another piece of history to my soul.”
