March of the Living Australia targets a new, non-Jewish audience

In a break with its origins, March of The Living (MOTL) Australia is in discussions with a non-Jewish private school in Sydney to run a bespoke trip for its Year 11 students to Germany, Poland and Israel this year; and with a Melbourne private school for its Year 11s to also join MOTL in 2024.

MOTL Australia began operating in 2001, taking Jewish participants to Auschwitz and former sites of Jewish culture in Poland, and remembrance events in Israel.

The organisation is broadening its audience due to the increase in antisemitism and the universal lessons the Holocaust offers in relation to all hatred and bigotry, MOTL Australia Co-President Cedric Geffen told The Jewish Independent.

 “We can’t continue preaching only to the converted,” Geffen said.

“We have to open this to everyone, to grow the knowledge base and empathy, so others understand the psyche about why, say, showing a swastika or flying a Nazi flag is insulting. And that while the Holocaust was the most extensive genocide, it will not be the only, or the last one – antisemitism, like all other forms of discrimination, is a threat to humanity, not only to Jews.”

If the program with the Sydney school proceeds, it would be separate to the standard MOTL trip, Geffen says. It would also take place at a different time from the traditional trip in April or May, most likely in the June/July school holidays, with 10 days in Berlin and Poland, and another 10 days in Israel.