Israel Defense Forces’ chief of general staff, Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz, will lead an IDF delegation to the annual March of the Living in Auschwitz-Birkenau on Monday.
It is the first time the march will be led by a current IDF chief of staff.
Some 10,000 people from all over the world are expected to participate in the march.
Gantz, the son of a Holocaust survivor, will also lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw, where a military service will take place.
The March of the Living, a 3-kilometer walk from Auschwitz to Birkenau, is a silent tribute to all victims of the Holocaust.
It will begin at 1pm at the entrance of Auschwitz under the iconic sign ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ and the ceremony at Birkenau will take place at 3:45pm.
The March will be joined by thousands of Jewish teens, adults and survivors from around the world and serves as a hopeful counterpoint to the experience of hundreds of thousands of Jews forced by the Nazis to cross vast expanses of European terrain under the harshest of conditions—the infamous "death marches."
For the first time in its 25 year history, the ceremony at Auschwitz will be broadcast live. Solemn and uplifting musical interludes will be performed throughout emphasizing the themes of prayer, resistance, remembrance and hope and in honor of the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
The program will be led by Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv-Yaffo, and will also include a message from Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Rabbi Lau, current Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council, was himself a child survivor of the Holocaust. He will be joined by Ronald S. Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress who will light a torch specifically memorializing the 1,100,000 plus victims, mainly Jews, who entered Auschwitz on foot but only left as ashes through chimney stacks.
To close the program, six torches will be lit, each reflecting a theme that will pay tribute to the 6,000,000 lives lost:
to those who risked their lives saving Jews during the Holocaust.
to the survivors who picked up the pieces of their shattered world and began life anew.
to the rabbis, scholars, teachers and students who perished.
to the 1,500,000 innocent Jewish children who were murdered by the Nazis.
to the second generation who never had the privilege of knowing or loving their grandparents.
to the celebration of the establishment of the State of Israel.
The International March of the Living is an annual program which brings high school students from around the world for a week of intensive education and touring in Poland to study the history of the Holocaust and examine the roots of prejudice, intolerance and hate.
Its aim is to impart the lessons of the Holocaust, celebrate the history of Jewish survival, and instill a passion for social justice.
To date, over 185,000 students have participated in the program.
The journey starts in Poland just prior to Yom HaShoah-Holocaust Memorial Day-and continues in Israel where participants honor Israel's fallen soldiers on Yom Hazikaron-Israel's Memorial Day and celebrate Israel's Independence Day (Yom Haatzmaut).
At a ceremony Sunday night at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres said hatred of Jews is still strong more than 70 years after the Holocaust.
"The map of Europe still contains local stains of anti-Semitism," Peres said.
"Racism erupted on that land in the last century and dragged it down to its lowest point. Ultimately the murder which came from her, damaged her."
"Not all the flames have been extinguished. Crises are once again exploited to form Nazi parties, ridiculous but dangerous. Sickening anti-Semitic cartoons are published allegedly in the name of press freedom,” he added.
Netanyahu said in his address to Holocaust survivors and their families, "Hatred of Jews has not disappeared. It has been replaced with a hatred of the Jewish state,” citing anti-Semitic statements made by Iranian leaders.
Six Holocaust survivors told their stories in a prerecorded video before they lit the six torches representing the 6 million Jews killed during the Holocaust.
The ceremony was broadcast on all Israeli television channels and on several radio stations.
On Yom Hashoah in Israel, places of entertainment are closed and Holocaust themed-movies and documentaries are shown on television channels. Memorial ceremonies are held throughout the country.
On Monday morning, at 10 am, siren will sound for two minutes to honor the victims of the Holocaust, followed by an official wreath-laying ceremony at Yad Vashem.