Dozens of students from the Combat Haredi Hesder Yeshiva recently returned from a transformative journey in Poland, a trip that deeply connected them to their roots, their history, and most importantly, to themselves. This was no ordinary trip, but a powerful educational and emotional experience that exposed these young Haredi men—on the cusp of their conscription into meaningful combat service—to the profound suffering and the heroic spirit of the Jewish people during the Holocaust.

The journey took them to extermination camps, mass graves, and poignant memorials. The students walked in somber silence through the barracks of Auschwitz, lit yahrzeit candles in the Children’s Forest, and recited Kaddish near the death pits. Between silence and tears, they sang quiet melodies that resonated in the very places where the song of life for millions of Jews was tragically interrupted.