The March of the Living brings Jewish teens to Oswiecim around the time of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, to march from Auschwitz to Birkenau, the largest concentration camp complex built during World War II. The group then travels to Israel to observe Yom HaZikaron, Israel's Memorial Day, and Yom Ha'Atzmaut, Israeli Independence Day.

March of the Living 2005 surpassed all previous years: more than 18,000 Jews and non-Jews from around the world flooded into Poland to march the two miles between Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau on 5 May 2005, in commemoration of the Holocaust. More non-Jews, Poles, and adults than ever before participated in the March, and the Auschwitz Jewish Center received a record number of visiting groups.

Over the course of the week, the Auschwitz Jewish Center hosted almost 2,000 March participants, including Jewish groups from the USA, Canada, Australia, and Brazil, as well as many groups from across Europe. Participants visited the synagogue and exhibition, watched survivor testimonies, and took walking tours of the city. Members of the United Jewish Synagogues from New Haven, Connecticut, spent the evening following the March in Oswiecim, where they participated in a forum with local priests, a Jagiellonian University lecturer, and the director of the Jewish Center. Participants from South Africa were able to attend a meeting facilitated by the Auschwitz Jewish Center and held in Krakow, with two Polish women who had received the Yad Vashem award of 'Righteous Among the Nations' for their assistance to Jews during the Holocaust.