A 97-year-old Auschwitz survivor is cycling from the site of the camp to Krakow this week to raise funds for the growing Jewish community in the Polish city.
Bernard Offen, who also survived four other Nazi concentration camps, will be riding a tandem bike fronted by his friend Jonathan Ornstein, chief executive of the city’s Jewish Community Centre (JCC), as part of this year’s Ride For the Living.
Prior to the Second World War, Krakow was a bustling centre of Jewish life but later became synonymous with nearby Auschwitz-Birkenau and the Holocaust. In recent years, however, it has experienced a resurgence of Jewish life and in 2008 the former Prince of Wales – now King Charles III – inaugurated the JCC founded by World Jewish Relief.
Now in its 11th year, 300 participants will ride from the camp where more than 1.1 million people were murdered, to the gates of the JCC. Cyclists from around a dozen countries, including the UK, US and Israel, are aiming to raise $1 million (£756,000) to fund the centre’s operations.
The bike ride is the focal point of an inspiring four-day programme starting on Wednesday, which also includes tours of the city and Auschwitz-Birkenau, and a huge Shabbat dinner.
Born in Krakow in 1929, Offen and his two older brothers were the only ones of more than 50 of his family to survive the Holocaust. His mother and sister were murdered at the Bełżec extermination camp in Poland in 1942, while his father was killed in the gas chambers at Auschwitz in 1944 – shortly after they arrived together and were separated.
He was only reunited with his brothers after the war, having also survived the horrors of Płaszów, Julag, Mauthausen and Dachau. In 1951 the siblings emigrated to the US.
Three decades later, he returned to Poland for the first time and from 1991 onwards he started spending his summers in his birthplace, giving tours of the Jewish quarter and speaking publicly about his family’s experiences.
“It took me many years to come back but I’ve been coming back almost every year for a long time as part of my healing process,” he told the JC.
A lifelong Holocaust educator, three years ago he resettled in Krakow and lives close to the JCC, which he describes as his “second home”. Today, he co-hosts the podcast Me & Bernard with Ornstein and is the community’s oldest member.
Offen has participated in previous rides with Ornstein in the front saddle, and last year wore a t-shirt emblazoned with his father’s image. “My father died at Auschwitz – he went one way and I went the other way after the selection so I see it as honouring him and everyone who died there.” He added: “Sometimes I can even commune with my father.”
Ornstein said: “Bernard inspires all of us. To ride out of Auschwitz with someone who was imprisoned there more than 80 years ago is an experience that is impossible to describe.”
The JCC is home to a lively pre-school – the first Jewish one set up here since the Holocaust – a pantry, a cheder, a Hillel for students and a kosher kitchen. They also care for 55 Holocaust survivors, including Offen.
“It’s the best thing that happened for a long long time for us Jews here in Krakow. The community here is very welcoming,” said Offen, who spends every Friday night there for Shabbat dinner.
Funds raised will not only go towards benefiting the running of the centre and its regular users, but the many thousands of Ukrainian refugees they have been supporting since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
“Bernard himself is incredibly active in helping our Ukrainian refugees,” said Ornstein. “He helps us pack food for our food pantry and has been very involved.”
Ornstein described the atmosphere on the ride as “celebratory,” adding: “We’re going from Auschwitz to the JCC, from the darkness of the Holocaust to the light and hope of the reborn Jewish community in Krakow.
“We pay tribute to those who were killed in the camps, like Bernard’s father, mother and sister. We think that the best way to honour them and commemorate the tragic loss of life during the Holocaust is to try to live the best life we can as possible: to be optimistic, to be forward thinking and to be informed by Jewish values of caring for the world and trying to help others.”
To sponsor Offen and Ornstein on their ride visit secure.qgiv.com/event/rftl2026/account/2282107/
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