Poland - Retracing the last steps of many Holocaust victims, young Jews from around the world will march Tuesday from the Auschwitz death camp barracks to the gas chambers where the Nazis murdered 1.5 million people. But some Poles say the march, which has taken place every two years since 1988, places too little emphasis on renewed Jewish life in Poland and on reconciliation between Jews and Poles. After visiting Poland, they fly to Israel to participate in that country's Independence Day on April 24. About 25,000 Jews live in Poland, down from the prewar community of 3.5 million. Thousands of Holocaust survivors went to Israel when it was founded in 1948, and more left during the communist anti-Semitic purges in the 1950s and 1960s.
Jewish groups say Jewish life is re-establishing itself in Poland.
Many Polish young people with Jewish roots are returning to the faith of their forebears. But misunderstandings persist, and the Jewish students will confront one example during their Auschwitz visit. Construction of a mini-mall has begun across the street from the former death camp. Work was suspended on April 2 because of protests from Jewish organizations, camp survivors and Polish government officials, who said commercialism had no place there. On April 6, a group of skinheads marched at Auschwitz to object to what they said was Jewish pressure on Polish authorities to halt the mini-mall project.