BASED ON AN ACCLAIMED EXHIBIT OF PHOTOGRAPHS LAUNCHED AT
THE UNITED NATIONS
SO WRONG
I want the trees to break and fall
The grass to wither and die
I want the sky to turn black as night
The sun to go and hide
I want the air to be heavy and thick
The birds to stop singing their song
I want the stones to turn into people
To find out why humans went so wrong.
—Daniella Weber,
March of the Living, 1992
Available in:
English, Hebrew,
Spanish, and Polish,
and a Special Edition print in 2020
In 2020, a special edition of the book was published in conjunction with “Liberation 75,” an international Holocaust education initiative commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the end of WWII and the liberation of Europe from Nazi tyranny.
This edition includes a section on liberation stories dealing with the accounts of mainly Canadian Holocaust survivors from this pivotal period, an afterword by Steven Spielberg, founder of the USC Shoah Foundation, content from Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis related to the March of the Living, and additional stories concerning the actions of the Righteous Among the Nations.
Quotes From Notable Individuals in the Witness Book
“Work for peace. Unite with people from different cultures and religions. Keep an open heart. Don’t discriminate. Welcome and understand others. May God bless you.”
— Pope Francis, speaking to a March of the Living Student from Argentina
“I know all about the March of the Living. God bless your daughter, and God bless the March of the Living.”
— Pope John Paul II, speaking to a parent of a Marcher at the Vatican, April 7, 1994, Holocaust Remembrance Day, the day of the March of the Living.
Pinchas Gutter
“I think of Pinchas Gutter, a man who lived through the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and survived the Majdanek death camp…‘I tell my story,’ he says, ‘for the purpose of improving humanity, drop by drop by drop. Like a drop of water falls on a stone and erodes it, so, hopefully, by telling my story over and over again, I will achieve the purpose of making the world a better place to live in.’ Those are the words of one survivor – performing that sacred duty of memory – that will echo throughout eternity. Those are good words for all of us to live by.”
— President Barack Obama, USC Shoah Foundation 20th Anniversary, May 7, 2014
“Forever will I see the children who no longer have the strength to cry. Forever will I see the elderly who no longer have the strength to help them. Forever will I see the mothers and the fathers, the grandfathers and grandmothers, the little schoolchildren…their teachers…the righteous and the pious…. From where do we take the tears to cry over them? Who has the strength to cry for them?”
— Elie Wiesel, Holocaust Survivor, Nobel Laureate, March of the Living, April 23, 1990
'“We’ve never had a Remembrance Day quite like this. But today, on Yom HaShoah, we gather for our first-ever virtual March of the Living. And I wish we could all be together in person. But what’s important is that we are together now. Because this virtual gathering not only gives us a chance to remember the horrors we faced in the past, it also shines a light on the struggles that lie ahead and those we face as a community this very day. The work we are doing – which is your work – is already having a generational impact. So for that I can only say thank you. Thank you for your bravery. Thank you for your commitment to the March of the Living. And thank you for gathering today to look back, as we continue the vital work of ensuring a better future.”
”So to the survivors among you: Your stories are safe with us. They remind not only of your unwavering courage, but also that the days ahead are going to be filled with light and hope.”
Steven Spielberg, Founder, USC Shoah Foundation, Virtual March of the Living, Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 21, 2020 (In 2020, the in-person March of the Living was replaced by a virtual March due of the Covid 19 Pandemic)
“I am a strong believer that we must tell the stories to the youngsters – they are going to be our witnesses. But please present them in a way, with the kind of emotions, that will not create the same hatred that was done to us.”
“After learning there were people today denying the Holocaust …. “I said there and then, I would crawl on my hands and knees all the way to Auschwitz-Birkenau, or anywhere else, to tell my story to anyone willing to listen. This is why I march and why I still speak. ”