January 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It's also the 73rd anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the Nazi's largest concentration camp
The 7th annual March of Remembrance happened on Sunday in Tucson at the Congregation Beth Sar Shalom, near Grant and Country Club. People of all ages and faiths marched through the streets, waving flags and holding signs, saying they will never forget the Holocaust and will do whatever they can to make sure something like it never happens again.
Service underway here to kick off Tucson’s “March of Remembrance,” to honor those who were killed in the Holocaust. They’ll march 1.5 miles through Midtown at 4. @kgun9 pic.twitter.com/uWjlP9OztJ
— Max Darrow (@MaxDarrowTV) January 28, 2018
Before the march, five survivors who lived through the horrors of the Holocaust shared their stories, in the hopes that they'll live on forever.
5 Holocaust survivors are now sharing their stories with the audience. Before speaking, they lit 6 candles for the congregation, each candle represents 1 Million people @kgun9 pic.twitter.com/iQboIQIBYx
— Max Darrow (@MaxDarrowTV) January 28, 2018
Wolfgang Hellpap was one of the five survivors there. Part of his story comes from a dark time during his childhood in Germany. He lived in a Jewish orphanage for some time, often the last stop for children before they were sent to concentration camps.
"Every time the Gestapo called out a name, the teacher would crack that whip right at the child in bed," he said. "Imagine being 9 years old, hoping they didn't call your name."
Here come some of the marchers, about half went on a shortened version. Still another chunk on a 1.5 mile journey @kgun9 #MarchOfRemembrance pic.twitter.com/Q7Xlby5zb7
— Max Darrow (@MaxDarrowTV) January 28, 2018
The survivors also lit six candles, each candle representative of one million Jews. Shortly after that, an air-raid siren sounded, an Israeli tradition to call everyone together for a moment of silence to remember the victims.
Phillip Lauzon, the co-coordinator of the Tucson March of Remembrance, explained it's extremely important for the survivors' stories to live on from generation to generation.
"Their testimonies are extremely important, to hear eyewitness accounts of what they experienced so that we can let our children, and our grandchildren know that this event did happen in history," he said. "It wasn't made up, it was real."
