Łódź, Poland – August 31, 2025 – The March of the Living, a global initiative dedicated to Holocaust remembrance and combating hatred, held a powerful March of Remembrance on Friday, August 29, 2025, in Łódź. The event commemorated the liquidation of the ghetto 81 years ago. The mayor of Łódź, community members, dignitaries, and Holocaust survivor Leon Weintraub marched together to honor the victims of the Łódź Ghetto and to promote a future free from racism, antisemitism, and hatred.
The march began at the historic Jewish Cemetery and concluded at Radegast Station, retracing the final, tragic path of the last transport of Jews from the Łódź Ghetto to Auschwitz-Birkenau 81 years earlier. The Łódź Ghetto was one of the largest ghettos established by Nazi Germany, where more than 20% of residents perished from starvation and disease even before deportations to extermination camps began.
Leon Weintraub (99) was born in January 1926 in Łódź, Poland, the youngest of five children. At age 13, he and his family were forced into the Łódź Ghetto. In August 1944, they were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where he narrowly avoided the gas chambers. He was later sent to Groß-Rosen (Dörnhau), Flossenbürg, and Natzweiler-Struthof. Near the end of the war, while being transported again, his train was bombed, allowing him to escape. He reached Donaueschingen suffering from typhus, weighing only about 35 kg, and was liberated by French troops. After recovering, he studied medicine, earned his doctorate in Warsaw, and worked as a gynecologist. Facing antisemitism, he emigrated in 1969 and continued his medical career in Sweden, becoming a dedicated Holocaust educator and witness.
At the march, Weintraub shared his life story and addressed the younger generation: “The memory of the Holocaust guarantees that something like this will never happen again. The worst thing is forgetting. We are all born human, and I hope that you remain human.” He emphasized the need for vigilance, “Be sensitive to all manifestations of intolerance. I urge you to be vigilant and watchful.”
Michel Gourary, Director of the European March of the Living, said at the ceremony, “We gather here to remember the men, women, and children who perished in the Łódź Ghetto. Yet 81 years after the Holocaust, we are witnessing a tsunami of antisemitism.” Gourary called for the adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism to safeguard the dignity and safety of the Jewish people. “The March of the Living is not only about memory — it is about responsibility, vigilance, and the promise of a better future.”
The March of the Living in Łódź aims to foster a community committed to countering racism, antisemitism, xenophobia, and hate speech. This year’s event was held in partnership with several key organizations: the Mayor of the City of Łódź; the Marshall of the Łódzkie Voivodeship; the Jewish Community in Łódź; the Social-Cultural Association of Jews in Poland; the Marek Edelman Dialogue Center; and the European March of the Living.
The next March of the Living will be held in Lithuania on September 19, 2026, commemorating the Holocaust of Lithuanian Jews, where over 90% of the Jewish population was murdered by the German Nazis and their local collaborators. Unlike in many other parts of Europe, most were killed near their homes, taken to nearby forests, and shot to death in places such as Ponary (Paneriai) near Vilnius, the Ninth Fort in Kaunas, and hundreds of smaller killing sites, entire communities were annihilated within days or weeks, leaving behind one of the highest destruction rates of Jewish life in all of Europe.
Written in collaboration with March of the Living