Ride for the Living

It’s a delicate balance to mourn a tragic past and celebrate a hopeful future. The Jewish Community Centre of Krakow leads the way in restoring Jewish life and establishing a strong Jewish community for the present and future in Kraków, Poland. Its annual Ride for the Living (RFTL) pays tribute to Jewish history and victims of the Holocaust and also makes a powerful statement about the rebirth of Jewish life in Poland. RFTL is a highly impactful educational, awareness-raising, and community-building program that honors the country’s complex Jewish history, offers an alternative to Holocaust-based Jewish education, and works to change the perception of Poland in the eyes of a wider, international community.

What began in 2014 as an inaugural cycling event with 15 people has grown into a four-day experience that draws 160 riders on-site in Poland, 102 from North America. The 55-mile route is intentional, winding through a story of survival, return, and revival, and following the path of Poland’s rebirth from the gates of Auschwitz-Birkenau all the way to Kraków, representing the building of a future Jewish life in Poland. Along the way, riders can visit local Jewish sites—Auschwitz, Kazimierz (the Jewish district), the former Kraków ghetto, and Oskar Schindler’s factory—and engage with Holocaust survivors. They can also learn about modern Jewish Polish life at Shabbat dinner and attend the Jewish Culture Festival to access hundreds of events that showcase contemporary Jewish culture. For those who can’t make it to Poland, RFTL provides a way to participate from afar. In partnership with the JCC Association of North America, the JCC Krakow offers a satellite RFTL program. Participating JCCs hold dedicated RFTL indoor cycling classes or outdoor events where people cycle the same 55-mile distance while learning about Poland’s Jewish revival through information provided by the JCC Krakow. In only a year, 12 cities became hosts and participants doubled to 360 riders. Through RFTL, the JCC Krakow sends the international Jewish community a powerful message of hope, strength, and resilience that even down the road from Auschwitz a Jewish community is not just surviving but thriving and growing.