Dear Friends of March of Life,
I extend warm greetings to you—no matter in which country or city you are participating in a March of Life event. Together with tens of thousands of others at March of Life events around the world, you are raising your voices against antisemitism and hatred of Jews. Every single person counts. Thank you very much for coming. Our shared motto this year is: “Remembrance means Responsibility.”
The year 2026 will go down in history for both Israel and the nations.
For since the brutal Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, Israel has had to defend itself on multiple fronts against the demonic plan of annihilation pursued by the Iranian mullahs and their proxies. While Western countries proclaimed a cultural dialogue with Islam, Tehran chanted “Death to the Jews” and pushed forward with the construction of the nuclear bomb to wipe Israel off the map once and for all.
Hamas’s mass murder on October 7 revealed the cruel reality of barbaric antisemitism, which was celebrated shortly thereafter on the streets of the Western world by tens of thousands of fanatical supporters. Since then, the Israeli population has had to learn to live in bunkers. The years-long rocket terror waged by Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis reached its climax this year in the war in March/April against the murderous mullah regime in Iran.
Where does this unspeakable hatred of Jews and antisemitism in the world come from, which has risen all over the world by an unbearable 50% since October 7, 2023? And why is Israel—the only democratic state in the Middle East where freedom of religion and freedom of expression are guaranteed and upheld—once again standing alone in the midst of a storm of hostility?
I ask myself: What do we remember in these times—and which of our memories are so crucial that they can guide our actions? And how can we commit to doing what is right while those in power disregard moral boundaries and make their strength the measure of their actions?
The extermination of Jews was not merely propagated; it is a historical reality. That is why, especially at this time, we remember the Holocaust and the agonizing deaths of six million Jews. Each of them had a name, a family, and a story. They were Jewish parents, children, grandparents—young and old. They were human beings brought forth by God, created in His image, and endowed with immeasurable value. Whoever degrades, dehumanizes, discriminates against, and kills them strikes at the very face of God.
Adolf Hitler did not invent antisemitism. He was able to draw upon the 2,000-year-old antisemitic legacy of the Church, which spread like poison throughout all nations. That is why we also remember today the indifference and silence of the churches, without which the Holocaust could not have taken place. As Christians, we affirm the enduring election of the Jewish people.
Therefore, whoever remains silent today in the face of antisemitism and hatred of Jews runs the risk of acting just as they did and becoming as guilty as the bystanders, accomplices, and followers during the Nazi era.
Antisemitism and hatred of Jews always begin when people are systematically accustomed to derogatory language, causing their perception of reality to gradually change. That is why we recall the antisemitic climate in nearly every country on the eve of World War II, which made the Holocaust possible and the rescue of the Jewish population impossible. Jews were mocked, persecuted, dehumanized, and compared to rats and parasites. There was scarcely a country in which they were not deprived of their rights, demonized, and marginalized.
Today, we are once again witnessing people being insulted, degraded, and dehumanized by those in power. Anyone who fails to stand up against the language of insult and hatred today is allowing moral standards to sink further and the anti-Jewish demons of the past to return in a modern guise.
According to a global survey conducted in 102 countries, antisemitism is on the rise, particularly among young people. With the rise of authoritarian politicians and the growing influence of both left-wing and right-wing movements, we are observing a steady increase in antisemitic patterns of thought and behavior. These manifest not only in slogans but also in deeds: in the destruction of Jewish cemeteries, in attacks on synagogues, in daily assaults on Jewish life—and in the political delegitimization of the State of Israel.
Hostility toward Jews lives on in the second and third generations—preserved, passed down, and nurtured in families that have never publicly distanced themselves from their antisemitism and hatred of Jews.
That is why we are duty-bound to raise our voices. Remembrance means responsibility to act—in 2026 more than ever before!
We pledge in light of the six million victims of the Holocaust not to remain silent in the face of modern-day antisemitism and hatred of Jews.
We pledge in light of our 2,000-year-old legacy of antisemitism as Christians from churches and denominations, to overcome our indifference and to recognize the enduring significance of the election of the Jewish people.
We pledge in light of a coarsening of language, to express appreciation instead of insulting, to honor people as the image of God instead of dehumanizing them, and to pronounce blessings upon others instead of cursing them.
That is why we are standing here and raise our voices “for Zion’s sake” and bless Israel with all our hearts.
And that is why we are standing here, raise our voices, and bless the Iranian people, praying that—freed from the mullahs’ captivity—they may stand in friendship alongside Israel.
And that is why we bless the nations of the Middle East, as well as our own country and our own city, with the Aaronic Benediction.
The Aaronic Benediction is a biblical blessing from Numbers 6:24–26, which is spoken in both Judaism and Christianity as an expression of divine protection and peace:
“The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.”
