Vrba-Wetzler march begins from Auschwitz-Birkenau

Vrba-Wetzler march begins from Auschwitz-Birkenau

Dozens of people set foot on Monday from the German Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland in commemoration of the escape of two Slovak Jews - Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler - from the camp in April 1944. The march, which is held annually, will cover the roughly 130 km route to the Slovak village of Skalité, where the two fled after escaping. According to Peter Švec, the chairman of the Slovak branch of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), the march will commemorate 75 years since the two Slovak Jews escaped from the concentration camp. "The route of the march is based on descriptions of the escape published separately in two books by Wetzler and Vrba," he said, adding that their escape and flight to Slovakia was undertaken in extremely risky circumstances.

On Saturday 20 July, at 9:00 AM, the participants will arrive at the Polish-Slovak border in Zwardoni, where they will gather at the March Memorial. "The memorial was created by Slovak sculptor Fero Guldan, who personally placed it there for the first march in 2014," said Švec. The march later moves on to Skalité. Along the way the participants plan to visit the gravesite of Ondrej Čanecký, the only person who is known among those who helped Vrba and Wetzler to escape. From Kysuce, the participants will travel to Žilina by train. The end of the march will be held at the New Synagogue in Žilina on Saturday 20 July at 6 pm.


Jonathan McCormick Foto: TASR

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