130 international police leaders joined Living in Poland in March

AUSCHWITZ: About 130 police leaders from around the world met in Krakow, Poland this week for the first-of-its-kind initiative amid public opposition.

The event is aligned with the March of the Living, which brings thousands of participants to Germany and Poland each year to provide a first-hand look at Nazi death camps and teach Holocaust lessons alongside survivors.

Paul Goldenberg, a 37-year law enforcement veteran and deputy director of the Rutgers Miller Center on Policing and Community Resilience, which organized the program alongside the University of Virginia’s Center for Public Safety and Justice, spoke about the importance of the trip.

“Being here is a testament to who these police officers are and the oath they take to protect all communities, regardless of who they are,” he told Fox News Digital. “It’s not just a commitment to ourselves, but also to the people we serve. These are very challenging times, and the police, in all their forms, can play an important role in upholding democratic values.

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“This program is about learning, professional development and remembering. It’s also about reminding ourselves who we are, why we hold these positions and what we need to do to make sure people are kept safe – no matter who they are or where they are,” he said.

The three-day program includes a walking tour of Kazimierz, the Jewish Quarter in Krakow, a guided tour of Auschwitz on Monday; a press conference and testimony of Holocaust survivors and survivors of anti-Semitic shootings, culminating in Tuesday’s participation in the March of the Living and a tour of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Goldenberg said the Holocaust was different because it was a government-directed campaign in which the police participated, and that the important lesson was that the Nazis’ contempt for Jews and other target groups made the program work. He added that the goal of the program is for participants to return to their departments with a deeper understanding that will help them better train officers, support victims of hate crimes and realize the importance and critical nature of their responsibilities.

He expressed the urgency of the situation, noting that armed forces are now guarding synagogues in Western countries and that the United States and Canada have sent special police forces to protect Jewish institutions.

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People add to the floral tribute outside the Bondi Pavilion at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Thursday, December 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Steve Markham)

“What is remarkable is that these are not foreign organizations – they are an integral part of existing communities. A synagogue in Belgium is Belgium. A synagogue in London is for London. A synagogue in New York City is part of the fabric of that city,” he told Fox News Digital.

“From the police’s point of view, it is deeply affecting the erosion of safety and security in vulnerable communities. It is a very alarming situation – one that, in some ways, echoes the patterns seen in the 1930s,” he added.

This year’s theme for March is fighting anti-Semitism, which has risen to levels not seen since the Hamas-led massacre on October 7, 2023, in Israel.

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Abbie Talmoud, director of Jewish Community Affairs at the Embassy of Israel in the United States, survived a terrorist attack outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, in May 2025, in which two Israeli embassy staff, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, were killed.

Speaking to Fox News Digital in Auschwitz, Talmoud said that amid rising antisemitism, feeling safe in the United States is “really difficult” and will require “systematic change,” adding that he has stopped attending some events where he feels there are adequate security measures.

Members of the international legal community attended the March of the Living in Auschwitz on April 13, 2026. (JV Katz)

“There must be a mutual understanding that the way we do not allow discrimination against other races and ethnicities, we cannot allow discrimination. It must come from the top – the school system, parents, governments,” said Talmoud.

Catherine Szkop, director of public affairs at the Embassy of Israel in the United States, who specializes in interfaith relations and engagement, met Talmoud, Lischinsky and Milgrim at the event that night and also survived.

“I have a family history tied to the Holocaust. In the Dictionary, I looked up ‘Szkop’ and saw a page longer than me full of that name, along with the dates and places of those killed. I realized that my name could appear there, with ‘killed in Washington, DC’ next to it,” he told Fox News Digital in Auschwitz.

Szkop said he has never been so cautious or afraid of a possible attack.

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“I wear headphones a little; it makes me aware of my surroundings. It’s a mixture of fear and wanting peace of mind after what happened. I don’t let it stop me from living, but it makes me a little scared,” he said.

Jeanne Hengemuhle, New Jersey state police superintendent, told Fox News Digital in Kraków that her organization, which includes 3,500 sworn members and 1,500 employees, is working in partnership with community leaders throughout the state to address hate-related concerns before they escalate into problems, stressing that early communication and cooperation are important to prevent information.

“We are law enforcement, but we are also part of the communities we serve, and we have to recognize that role as the first line of defense,” she said.

A photo taken on 27 May 1944 in Oswiecim, shows Nazis selecting prisoners from a platform at the entrance to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. (Photo by Yad Vashem Archives/AFP via Getty Images)

Hengemuhle said that, as people, there is a responsibility to do everything possible to fight against hatred, which requires mutual understanding and education, as well as involving different fields of policing and expertise.

“This is my first year, I am very humbled that I have been invited to take part in this march and learn more, for me it is to meet and learn from what happened in the past so that we do not allow it to happen again in the future,” he said.

“The Holocaust did not happen overnight,” he continued. “There were small, incremental changes that eventually led to what happened. I think it’s important that, by coming together and having these conversations, we ask if we’re seeing the kinds of early indicators that might lead us down a dangerous path — and how we can intervene before it gets too extreme.”

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To this end, top police officials and organizations from Europe and North America signed a historic memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Berlin earlier this month, officially launching a new international initiative titled “Not on Our Watch – The Democratic Policing Initiative.”

This agreement includes the German Police Union (GdP), the European Federation of Police Unions (EU.Pol), the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA), the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA), the Small & Rural Law Enforcement Executives Association (SRLEEA) and the International Police Delegation and higher education institutions.

The MOU formalizes a shared commitment among participating organizations to strengthen early detection of threats and intelligence sharing across borders, including developing coordinated operational responses to emerging malicious threats, among other things.

The colorful jacket of an anti-Israel protester during an anti-Jewish state march near the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Australia. August 2025. (Photos by Ayush Kumar/SOPA/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Jim Skinner, the sheriff of Collin County, Texas, and the vice president of the National Sheriffs’ Association, told Fox News Digital in Krakow that as a law enforcement leader, his responsibility is to serve everyone equally, he noted that although there are significant biases and political divisions in the United States, law enforcement must work and protect all communities equally.

“We all have a responsibility to dig deep and make sure that hate doesn’t happen on our watch, and realize that we have an important responsibility to think carefully about how to keep our communities safe,” he said.

Skinner noted that North Texas is home to a large and vibrant Jewish community, which he said he is fortunate to serve. He added that he traveled to Israel shortly after the October 7 attack with two other sheriffs and visited Kibbutz Be’eri, an experience he said he will never forget.

A participant wrapped in an Israeli flag stands at the main gate with the inscription “Arbeit macht frei” (Work sets you free) at the beginning of the annual March of The Living to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust during World War II, at the memorial site of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau14, Poland, April 2 in Oswie. (Wojtek Radwanski/AFP via Getty Images)

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“I came away with important, practical lessons for my organization, but also with a deep understanding of a world full of hatred. It confirmed to me that the authority entrusted to me by the people who elected me must be used wisely in the way I deal with my work every day – to make sure that something like that does not happen to the citizens where I live, and that if it happens, we will have an appropriate and effective response,” he said.

“I think the march,” he continued, “honors the victims of the Holocaust and serves as a reminder of the consequences of hatred and the importance of resisting violence and intolerance. That’s a message I want everyone in my power to understand.”