RJC Abroad: A Note from CEO Matt Brooks Ahead of the March of the Living

Greetings from Poland,

The RJC delegation arrived today in Kraków, and I wanted to send a quick update as we kick off what’s going to be an incredibly powerful trip.

Tomorrow, the RJC will be participating in the annual March of the Living from Auschwitz to Birkenau, which this year commemorates the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps.

There will be over 8,000 people from more than 40 different countries walking with us, including 1,000 students, the Presidents of Israel and Poland, and 80 Holocaust survivors.

We are gathered here in Poland at a time when antisemitism and anti-Jewish hate are surging across the world. In the face of this evil, we must come together to fight this hate with truth and be the torchbearers of memory, to make sure the horrors of the Holocaust are never forgotten or repeated. 

This evening, we attended a welcome event at the Krakow Opera House. Phyllis Heideman, President of the International March of the Living and a member of the RJC’s Board of Directors, served as one of the night’s emcees. As part of the program, Phyllis awarded the Guardian of Memory Award to the great grandson of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Merrill Eisenhower, and his wife, Nicole Atwater. We had the privilege to listen to members of the Israeli Defense Force choir, who powerfully chanted the Hatikvah and Vehi She’amda. Senator Coleman and I also had the honor of lighting one of six candles in memory of the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust.

I’ll be sharing more updates with you from the road in the coming days, including from Israel, which is our next stop on this year’s RJC Middle East trip.

Sincerely,

Matt Brooks
CEO, Republican Jewish Coalition