Abstract
The March of the Living may have several definitions. It is above all a march, from the symbolic gate 'arbeit macht frei' of Auschwitz, to the crematorium of Auschwitz-Birkenau, as a ceremony of remembrance. This march takes place on the day of Yom HaShoah, the Holocaust Remembrance Day of Israel and the Jews of all over the world. Another definition of the March of the Living is 'an educational trip', about two-week long, organised for the young Jews of many nationalities, in Poland and in Israel. Finally, another way to define the March of the Living to describe it as an answer to the 'death marches' that took place at the end of the Second World War. What kind of representation of the Holocaust, and of remembrance of it, is the March of the Living? Among the various ways of representing the Shoah, of mourning the dead, especially when they are members of family, how can we perceive the March of the Living? All of this also raises once again the question of the representation of Judaism. The March of the Living is a special day for the Jews. How is the Jewish identity represented and understood by the youth during the march and during the very day of the March? How is it organised by the adults, and what are their educational objectives?
