When You Meet a Survivor, You Become a Witness

Marvin “Ben” Haiman is an Assistant Professor and Executive Director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Public Safety and Justice, School of Continuing and Professional Studies (SCPS), and a Visiting Fellow and Research Scholar with Rutgers University. A nationally recognized public safety leader, he previously served as Chief of Staff of the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, D.C., where he directed executive operations and oversaw core functions spanning legal affairs, technology, communications, recruitment, training, and organizational development. His career includes senior leadership roles with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Advisory Council and transformative work modernizing police hiring and professional development systems. Haiman holds a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, executive leadership credentials from George Washington University and the Naval Postgraduate School, and has been honored by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Police Executive Research Forum for his contributions to the profession.

Four years ago, while serving as Chief of Staff for the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, I was invited by a longtime colleague, Paul Goldenberg, to join a small group of senior law enforcement leaders in the International March of the Living. Together, we walked between Auschwitz and Birkenau—honoring those who were murdered and remembering those who survived.

Since that first experience, I have returned each year. What began as a delegation of five has grown to 25, then 65, and this past year, 130 law enforcement leaders from around the world—walking together in reflection, humility, and remembrance.

In 2024, after joining the University of Virginia’s Center for Public Safety and Justice, and with the support of SCPS Dean Melissa Lubin and my colleague Associate Dean Stephen Levine, we expanded this effort into a global educational initiative. In partnership with the Rutgers Miller Center for Community Protection and Resilience, the program now brings contemporary leadership education to law enforcement executives worldwide.

Why does this matter?

In an era of increasing polarization, law enforcement leaders often stand at the fragile boundary between order and chaos. They are called into the most complex and unresolved tensions within communities and are entrusted with maintaining legitimacy, fairness, and ethical leadership—especially in protecting marginalized populations.

This year, our delegation—representing Australia, Estonia, Kenya, Mexico, the United States, and across Europe—began in Berlin at the House of the Wannsee Conference before traveling to Kraków, Poland.

In the months leading up to the experience, participants engaged in graduate-level study examining the role of Reserve Police Battalion 101 in perpetrating mass atrocities. This history is deeply personal to me as a current reservist with the Metropolitan Police Department. The reality is uncomfortable but necessary: ordinary individuals—wearing a uniform meant to symbolize safety and justice—became instruments of unimaginable harm.

At Wannsee, we studied how a 90-minute meeting operationalized the “Final Solution.” It was not a question of if, but how.

In Poland, we explored the rich history of Jewish life in Kraków—once vibrant and thriving—before it was systematically dismantled through marginalization and violence. We visited synagogues, walked through Auschwitz I, and heard from victims of contemporary antisemitic violence from Washington, D.C., Manchester, U.K., and Bondi, Australia. The lessons were not confined to history—they are ongoing.

The evening before the march, our delegation was invited to a ceremony alongside Holocaust survivors and young people from around the world. The theme was passing the torch.

When our group was asked to stand, the survivors—along with nearly a thousand attendees—rose in a sustained standing ovation. It lasted far longer than expected.

Why? Because today’s law enforcement leaders, when guided by ethics and courage, represent something essential: the capacity to resist injustice. The audience understood that institutions, and the people within them, have a choice. History has shown what happens when that choice fails.

As I looked across my colleagues, I saw a range of emotions including pride, discomfort, reflection, even guilt. Each of us grappled with the same question: Could this happen again? And more importantly: What would I do if it did?

The next day, we walked. During the International March of the Living, our delegation was asked to lead, just behind the survivors themselves. We walked the 1.5 miles from Auschwitz I to Auschwitz II-Birkenau in memory and in recognition of our responsibility as leaders.

At Birkenau, members of our delegation stood before thousands and helped light the Torch of Protection, witnessed by attendees on site and millions worldwide. Phyllis Heideman addressed our group directly:
“Thank you for coming to this place of evil and becoming witnesses to ensure this never happens again.”

Our leaders, many of them students in the University of Virginia’s Master of Public Safety or other programs, left transformed. Humbled. Inspired. And, most importantly, committed to leading differently.

I invite you to learn more about this initiative and hear directly from our participants:
https://www.scps.virginia.edu/operationalizing-never-again-2027#about-the-organizers

Captain Jillian McCoy, a graduate of the Master of Public Safety program, captured the experience best:
“While standing at Auschwitz, I saluted a survivor who lived through horrors most of us cannot comprehend. When he saluted me in return, it was one of the most powerful moments of my life. It reinforced my duty to lead with humanity and to ensure we never repeat the past.”