Space Available for E. Europe - Israel Holocaust Heritage Trip

BOSTON, MASS. (Issued August/September 2013)  -- “When you listen to a witness, you become a witness,”  organizers of a unique Holocaust heritage trip to Eastern Europe and Israel told attendees at a recent parlor meeting for prospective participants in the Spring 2014 program.  

The quote is from survivor/author Elie Wiesel and the speaker was Mel Mann of Miami, a son of survivors and organizer of the Friends of the March of the Living (MOTL). The Friends group, which will be comprised of  2 -3 busloads of people from across North America, will join with over 12,000 teens from around the world on a pilgrimage that will take them “from the ashes of Nazi death camps to the miracle of modern Israel.” (Space is still available for the trip April 23 – May 7, 2014.)

Two survivors – Israel ‘Izzy’ Arbeiter and Sid Handler, both of Newton, welcomed the crowd along with Mann and Irv Kempner of Sharon, another son of survivors. The program, hosted by Kehillah Schechter Academy in Norwood, featured video clips from previous Marches.  The school is home to the Israel Arbeiter Gallery of Understanding. 

Shown in the photo are Friends of the March of the Living organizers (left to right) Irv Kempner, Sid Handler and Mel Mann.

Since 1988, Mann said, some 270,000 high school students have participated in this experience that’s “all about connecting the dots” of Jewish history. “This is an amazing, powerful experience that leaves indelible memories and changes the way you think and live your life forever. This is how we speak for those who were silenced, to proclaim ‘we are still here…we won.”

 Kempner added, “Imagine the image – tens of thousands of Jews walking out of Auschwitz, preparing to celebrate Israel Independence Day in Israel a few days later..”

The ‘Friends’  mission (www.friendsofthemarchoftheliving.org) is to ensure the perpetuation of the March of the Living Program through the establishment and maintenance of an endowment fund. The fund will support the March of the Living’s goals of educating Jewish teenagers about the dangers of assimilation, hatred and intolerance.

Reservation deadline is October 1st or until all spaces are filled. For those who cannot travel for the full two weeks, the Israel portion of the itinerary is optional. For more information, contact Mel Mann: (305) 378-0254 or  melmann54@aol.com.

                                                                         By Stanley Hurwitz  / 508-269-0570  / stanhurwitz@gmail.com