Accompanying him was his friend of 35 years Peter Scotland whose father Tom Scotland flew 63 missions as a Pathfinder pilot in WWII and who dropped supplies over Warsaw during the 1944 uprising.
Bridges for Peace International is a Christian mission based in Jerusalem who have an unparalleled relationship with officials in the Israeli Government, received an invitation to have gentile delegates for the 2005 March of the Living in Auschwitz for this 60th anniversary.
International Media director for Bridges for Peace, Ron Ross an Australian who ministered with Mark Tronson for many years in sports evangelism having been one of the nation's leading television sports editors, requested Mark Tronson and his wife Delma as the cricket chaplain be two of these delegates. Delma sought to keep the family fires at home functioning, so Peter Scotland gladly went along.
The March of the Living is an annual pilgrimage of young Jewish people from around the world who on 6 March each year engage in this remembrance march from Auschwitz 1 to Auschwitz 2 (Birkenau). On entrance to Bikenau through the infamous railway line entrance, delegates are led through the camp followed by speeches from dignitaries.
In 2005 the Prime Ministers of both Israel and Poland addressed the 60th anniversary delegates and the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem gave the key note address.
There was time set aside to each delegate to remember quietly, and to lay remembrance wooden tags with Holocaust names (Mark Tronson participated in this).
The most revealing thing to Mark Tronson were the 'youth' of the Polish Police and Military personnel whose task it was to ensure total security for these 21,000 young Jewish people in attendance.
It was the same 'youth' aspect 60 plus years earlier, that drew Mark Tronson's attention, in that the German guards were very young, easily manipulated, without conscience or being aware of the value of life without children of their own, and it was they who mercilessly sent millions into the gas chambers.