Standing near the gates of the former Nazi death camp, Duda warned that “silence in the face of any manifestation of racial or ethnic hatred can end in atrocities like those committed here.” He noted that more than one million citizens of pre-war Poland – Jews, Poles and Roma – were murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Duda thanked Herzog for joining what he called a “demonstration of life and memory, and a dramatic call of ‘never again’.” He said both leaders hoped the wars in Ukraine and Gaza would end quickly, and voiced support for a “durable peace” in Ukraine that “halts Russian imperialism.”
On the Middle East, he reiterated Poland’s backing for a two-state solution.
Herzog said the march underscored a shared commitment to combat rising antisemitism.
“When hatred of Israel resurfaces and voices call for its destruction, we must stand firm and say: never again,” he told reporters, urging the release of 95 hostages still held in Gaza after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Securing their freedom, he said, “is a duty for all humanity.”
The Israeli president also called for unity against what he described as “Iran’s octopus of hatred” financing attacks on Israel. “Iran threatens not only us but global stability, and the free world must act,” he said.
Historic march
Launched in 1988, the March of the Living brings thousands of Jewish and non-Jewish students to sites of Nazi atrocities on former German-occupied Polish soil. Participants walk the three-kilometer path from Auschwitz to Birkenau to honor Holocaust victims and survivors. More than 300,000 people from nearly 50 countries have taken part since its inception.
Thursday’s event drew delegations from across the globe and was attended in the past by world leaders including Polish and Israeli presidents and prime ministers, Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel.
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Source: IAR, PAP, Polskie Radio 24