L-R: 2009 South Palm Beach County March of the Living participants speaking at Valencia Palms in Delray Beach: Daniel Weiss, Stacey Berkowitz, Lia Cohen and Bryan Meisel

The March of the Living - Southern Region is currently accepting applications for the 2010 Holocaust education program that culminates in a two week trip to Poland and Israel from April 8th to 22, 2010. Jewish 11^th and 12^th graders are urged to apply quickly for available spots and financial assistance. Many local teens are hearing about this incredible opportunity from the 2009 Marchers who are now speaking in the community.

 

Since 1988, the March of the Living has been guiding thousands of teens from around the globe and from the varied streams of Judaism, through the depths of the Holocaust to the glory of our modern State of Israel," said Jack Rosenbaum, Southern Region Director, based at the Jewish Education Commission of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County. "We march to keep alive the memories of the millions of individuals who were murdered, the stories of those who survived, and to assure that other genocides will never happen again."

 

	Marli Barbarosh, March of the Living Southern Region Coordinator, and Zach Herbert, 2009 participant, speak with 11th and 12th grade students at Congregation B’nai Israel

“There is nothing like the March to build Jewish identity, humanitarian responsibility and young leadership," continued Rosenbaum. "There is also great value to our Jewish communities, as returning marchers share their experience with synagogues, schools, organizations and sponsoring groups, as well as informally with their families and friends."

 

"Absolutely no student should be held back from applying by the $4,995 cost of the trip,” added Rosenbaum. “The March is so important that generous financial assistance is made available by benefactors concerned with keeping the memories alive, and with Jewish continuity."  Applicants submit a letter of recommendation and an application, and are then invited to a personal interview.

 

Following a preparatory course that begins early in December 2009, the students will spend their first travel week in Poland. With highly skilled staff fostering a supportive environment, they will visit historic communities and sites, learn how Jews lived and died in Eastern Europe, observe Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day and join many thousands of Jewish teens from throughout the world for the triumphant "March of the Living" from Auschwitz to Birkenau, the largest World War II era concentration camp.

 

The triumph will continue as the dark memories of Poland give way to the joys and power of Israel. The students will spend their second week visiting historic and religious sites, observing Yom HaZikaron, Israel's Memorial Day, and exuberantly celebrating Yom Ha'Atzmaut, Israel Independence Day. 

 

The impact of the March of the Living on past participants is clear from their personal reflections and desire to share their experience through intimate conversation and speaking engagements. In fact, the returning teens' enthusiasm becomes instrumental in recruiting other students.

 

	Zach Herbert, 2009 participant, speaks with 11th and 12th grade students at Congregation B’nai Israel

“I had been learning about the Holocaust for years, but nothing could have prepared me for standing in the footsteps of those who perished and those who made it to our homeland in Israel. I experienced at a very deep and powerful level that I am part of their lineage of survival, and that I can and must keep their memories alive," said Zack Herbert, speaking with fifty 11th and 12th grade students at Congregation B'nai Israel in Boca Raton on a recent Sunday morning. A 17-year-old student at Donna Klein Jewish Academy, Herbert participated in the 2009 March. "After marching between the camps with thousands of Jews from my own generation, my concept of family and responsibility has changed forever," he continued.

 

“I feel a responsibility to witness and share what happened, and I believe the March will make me a better person," said Russell Pollack, 16, an 11th grade student at Pine Crest School who plans to participate in 2010. "These are lessons we still need today, and we can make a difference in our society now and in the future."

 

As in all previous years, local Holocaust survivors will provide the 2010 marchers with insight into the camps and surviving the aftermath of the war. Vera Folic, who survived by being hidden in a convent, will be marching for a sixth time, accompanied by her daughter and her granddaughter. "After losing my family in the camps, I decided that people need to know about the Holocaust so something so unimaginable will never happen again," said Folic.

 

For more information about applying or contributing to the March of the Living, please contact Marli Barbarosh, Southern Region Coordinator, at MarliB@BocaFed.org or 561-852-3308, and visit http://www.molsouth.org. You can also friend us on Facebook by searching for “Marli Boca.”

 

	Marli Barbarosh, March of the Living Southern Region Coordinator, and Zach Herbert, 2009 participant, speak with 11th and 12th grade students at Congregation B’nai Israel