March of the Living takes place at Auschwitz
Legislation enforcement leaders joined the 2026 Worldwide March of the Dwelling at Auschwitz-Birkenau on Tuesday. The worldwide delegation marched alongside 1000’s to honor Holocaust victims and vow to fight trendy hate. (Video: Amelie Botbol.)
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AUSCHWITZ: Some 130 police leaders from throughout the globe converged on Kraków, Poland this week for a first-of-its-kind initiative amid rampant antisemitism.
The occasion is aligned with the March of the Dwelling, which brings 1000’s of members to Germany and Poland every year to offer a first-hand have a look at the Nazi demise camps and to show the teachings of the Holocaust by way of engagement with survivors.
Paul Goldenberg, a legislation enforcement veteran of 37-years, deputy director of the Rutgers Miller Heart on Policing and Group Resilience, which organized the initiative alongside the College of Virginia’s Heart for Public Security and Justice, spoke of the significance of the journey.
“Being here’s a testomony to who these officers are and to the oath they’ve taken to guard all communities, no matter id,” he advised Fox Information Digital. “It’s a dedication not solely to ourselves, however to the folks we serve. These are very difficult instances, and the police, in all their varieties, can play a major position in sustaining democratic values.
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Members of the Worldwide Police delegation tour Auschwitz on April 12, 2026. (Yossi Zeliger)
“This initiative is about studying, skilled improvement and remembrance. Additionally it is about reminding ourselves who we’re, why we maintain these positions and what we should do to make sure individuals are stored protected — regardless of who they’re or the place they’re,” he mentioned.
The three-day program included a strolling tour of Kazimierz, the Jewish Quarter in Kraków, a guided tour of Auschwitz on Monday; a press convention and testimonies by a Holocaust survivor and survivors of antisemitic shootings, culminating on Tuesday’s participation within the March of the Dwelling and a tour of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Goldenberg mentioned the Holocaust was unique in that it was a state-directed marketing campaign through which police forces performed a task, and {that a} central lesson is how the Nazis’ dehumanization of Jews and different focused teams enabled the system to operate. He added that the purpose of the initiative is for members to return to their departments with a deeper understanding that may assist them higher practice officers, help victims of hate crimes and recognize the significance and significant nature of their duties.
He pointed to the urgency of the scenario, noting that armed army items are actually guarding synagogues in Western nations and that each the USA and Canada have deployed specialised police forces to protect Jewish institutions.
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Individuals add to a floral tribute outdoors Bondi Pavilion at Bondi Seashore in Sydney, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Picture/Steve Markham)
“What’s putting is that these aren’t overseas entities — they’re integral elements of the societies through which they exist. A synagogue in Belgium is Belgian. A synagogue in London belongs to London. A synagogue in New York Metropolis is a part of the material of that metropolis,” he advised Fox Information Digital.
“From a policing perspective, what’s deeply regarding is the erosion of security and safety for susceptible communities. It’s a deeply alarming situation — one which, in some respects, echoes patterns seen within the Thirties,” he added.
The theme of this yr’s March is combating antisemitism, which has surged to unprecedented ranges because the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, bloodbath in Israel.
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Abbie Talmoud, director for Jewish Group Affairs on the Embassy of Israel to the USA, survived a terror attack outdoors the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., in Might 2025, through which two Israeli embassy employees members, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, have been killed.
Chatting with Fox Information Digital in Auschwitz, Talmoud mentioned that amid rising antisemitism, feeling protected in the USA “is absolutely troublesome” and would require “systematic change,” including that she has stopped attending some occasions the place she doesn’t really feel sufficient safety precautions are in place.
Members of a world legislation enforcement delegation attended the March of the Dwelling in Auschwitz on April 13, 2026. (J.V. Katz)
“There must be an understanding that the way in which we don’t enable racism for different races and ethnicities, we will’t enable antisemitism. It wants to return from the highest — the varsity system, mother and father, governments,” Talmoud mentioned.
Catherine Szkop, director of public affairs on the Embassy of Israel to the USA, who focuses on interfaith relations and engagement, carpooled with Talmoud, Lischinsky and Milgrim to the occasion that night and in addition survived.
“I’ve a household historical past tied to the Holocaust. Within the E-book of Names, I appeared up ‘Szkop’ and noticed a web page taller than me stuffed with that title, together with dates and areas of those that have been murdered. I spotted my very own title might have appeared there, with ‘murdered in Washington, D.C.’ written subsequent to it,” she advised Fox Information Digital at Auschwitz.
Szkop mentioned she has by no means been this vigilant or petrified of potential assaults.
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“I put on headphones much less; it makes me extra conscious of my environment. It’s a mixture of concern and wanting some peace of thoughts after what occurred. I don’t let it cease me from residing, however it’s made me somewhat extra afraid,” she mentioned.
Jeanne Hengemuhle, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, advised Fox Information Digital in Kraków that her company, which incorporates 3,500 sworn members and 1,500 civilian employees, works intently with neighborhood leaders throughout the state to handle hate-related concerns earlier than they escalate into crises, emphasizing that early engagement, information-sharing and collaboration are key to stopping points earlier than they come up.
“We’re legislation enforcement, however we’re additionally a part of the communities we serve, and we should acknowledge that position as the primary line of protection,” she mentioned.
A photograph taken 27 Might 1944 in Oswiecim, displaying Nazis choosing prisoners on the platform on the entrance of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. (Picture by -/Yad Vashem Archives/AFP through Getty Photographs)
Hengemuhle mentioned that, as human beings, there’s a accountability to do every part potential to fight hate, which requires understanding and educating each other, in addition to drawing on completely different policing {and professional} backgrounds.
“That is my first yr, and I’m very humbled to have been invited to participate within the march and study extra. To me, it’s about coming collectively and studying from what occurred prior to now so we don’t enable it to occur once more sooner or later,” she mentioned.
“The Holocaust didn’t occur in a single day,” she continued. “There have been small, incremental modifications that in the end led to what came about. I feel it can be crucial that, by coming collectively and having these discussions, we ask whether or not we’re seeing the sorts of early indicators that might lead us down a harmful path — and the way we intervene earlier than it goes too far.”
To this finish, senior police officers and associations from Europe and North America signed a landmark memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Berlin earlier this month, formally launching a brand new transnational initiative titled “Not on Our Watch – The Democratic Policing Initiative.”
The settlement brings collectively the German Police Union (GdP), the European Federation of Police Unions (EU.Pol), the Worldwide Affiliation of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the Nationwide Sheriffs’ Affiliation (NSA), the Worldwide Affiliation of Campus Legislation Enforcement Directors (IACLEA), the Small & Rural Legislation Enforcement Executives Affiliation (SRLEEA) and the Worldwide Police Delegation, in collaboration with main tutorial establishments.
The MOU formalizes a shared dedication amongst collaborating organizations to strengthen early risk detection and intelligence-sharing throughout borders, together with establishing coordinated operational responses to rising extremist threats, amongst different issues.
An anti-Israel protester’s high-vis jacket throughout a march towards the Jewish state by the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Australia. Aug. 2025. (Ayush Kumar/SOPA Photographs/LightRocket through Getty Photographs)
Jim Skinner, sheriff of Collin County, Texas, and incoming vice chairman of the Nationwide Sheriffs’ Affiliation, advised Fox Information Digital in Kraków that as a legislation enforcement chief, his accountability is to serve everybody equally, noting that whereas there’s important partisanship and political division in the USA, legislation enforcement should serve and shield all communities equally.
“All of us have an obligation to dig deep and ensure hate doesn’t occur on our watch, and to acknowledge that we’ve a elementary accountability to suppose critically about the right way to hold our communities protected,” he mentioned.
Skinner famous that North Texas is dwelling to a big and vibrant Jewish neighborhood, which he mentioned he’s lucky to serve. He added that he traveled to Israel shortly after the Oct. 7 assault with two different sheriffs and visited Kibbutz Be’eri, an expertise he mentioned he’ll always remember.
A participant wrapped right into a flag of Israel stands on the fundamental gate with the lettering “Arbeit macht frei” (Work units you free) initially of the annual March of The Dwelling to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust throughout World Battle II, on the memorial web site of the previous Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi demise camp in Oswiecim, Poland, on April 14, 2026. (Wojtek Radwanski/AFP through Getty Photographs)
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“I got here away with essential, sensible classes for my group, but in addition with a deeper understanding of a world stuffed with hate. It bolstered for me that the authority entrusted to me by the individuals who elected me should be used correctly in how I strategy my job every day — to make sure that one thing like that doesn’t occur to the residents the place I dwell, and that if it ever did, we’d have a correct and efficient response,” he mentioned.
“I take into consideration the march,” he continued, “it honors Holocaust victims and serves as a reminder of the results of hate and the significance of standing towards violence and intolerance. That’s the message I would like everybody I’ve affect over to know.”
