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6 Million Steps
Campaign Comes to
Philadelphia HEATHER M. ROSS | STAFF WRITER
I n advance of Yom Hashoah, about
100 people participated on April
24 in a Holocaust memorial walk
dedicated to the 1.5 million children
who lost their lives in the Holocaust.

Walkers wearing white shirts, carry-
ing yellow roses and waving Israeli fl ags
started at the “Rocky” steps outside the
Philadelphia Museum of Art then headed
down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway
to the Philadelphia Holocaust Memorial
Plaza. A ceremony there hosted by the
Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia
culminated the event.

Th e walk was part of the international
6 Million Steps campaign sponsored by
the Israeli American Council. Its goal is to
remember the lives lost in the Holocaust
and build community to combat resur-
gent antisemitism across the globe.

Th e campaign urges people across
the world to dedicate their steps from
their walks to remember those killed.

Since the campaign began on April 1
it has reached more than 30 million
steps, surpassing its goal of 18 million.

Th e IAC has set a goal for each com-
6 Million Steps participants
munity to complete 6 million steps.

Before embarking on the walk,
participants outside the art museum
shared stories of Holocaust survivors,
sang “Eli Eli” by Hannah Szenes and
donned nametag stickers where they
wrote in the names of the people they
were walking to remember.

Szenes was a Hungarian Jewish
World War II resistance fi ghter who
wrote the poem in 1942; the song was
set to music by David Zehavi, an Israeli
composer, in 1945.

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Ella Dotan and Rotem Shcori told the
story of their grandmother, a survivor,
in Hebrew and in English. Th e crowd
listened silently while the girls spoke,
telling their grandmother’s story about
how some members of her family went
one direction and lived while others
were sent the other way at the camp and
were never seen or heard from again.

Participants ranged from babies in
strollers to grandparents. Together,
they each logged more than 5,000 steps.

Many of the attendees were members
of Shevet Paamon, the Israeli Scouts of
Philadelphia. Th e scouts held a program
for children from third to 12th grade
where they discussed the Holocaust.

Th e event also included about 20
people who were visiting from Israel.

“We defi nitely made a mark. We
brought people closer together. We
strengthened our community through
this event,” said Adi Ozery, the regional
director for the IAC.

Ozery and her husband, Boaz,
walked with their three children.

Ozery told her children why they were
walking and why it was so important.

“Th is is our heritage, this is our
history. We say that we remember and
will never forget. We don’t want it to
happen again,” Ozery said.

Ozery, 38, came to Philadelphia with
her family two years ago for her hus-
band’s job. Her family is closely con-
nected to Israel and it was diffi cult to
leave, so she said she aims to bring her
family closer to Israel and its traditions.

Although the event has passed,
would-be participants can still contrib-
ute and remember the Holocaust.

People can walk independently this
month and dedicate their walks online
to contribute their steps. Walkers can
log their steps at 6msteps.org. JE
hross@midatlanticmedia.com 10
APRIL 28, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM