The Holocaust Forum's Main Ceremony: "Standing Together For Unforgetable"

Some 700 participants take part in a ceremony at the Yad Vashem Museum, in which the heads of powers who were partners in the Nazi war in WWII speak. Rivlin: "Thank you for your commitment to believers in human dignity." Netanyahu: "The Jewish People Have a State, Protector and Voice." President of Germany: "The most horrible crime in history was committed by my people"

The main ceremony of the International Holocaust Forum

The main event of the International Holocaust Forum is being held Thursday at the Yad Vashem Museum to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Some 700 people are attending the event in which representatives of all the superpowers who were partners in the war on Nazism were present - Russian President Vladimir Putin, Vice President of the United States Mike Pence, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Crown Prince Prince Charles. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also spoke.

At the opening of the ceremony, President Reuven Rivlin said: "We stand here today, kings, leaders, heads of state, at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, for the sake of remember, for the sake of us. For the Jewish people, and as President of the State of Israel, I thank you from the bottom of your heart. Here, thank you for your solidarity with the Jewish people. Thank you for your commitment to the memory of the Holocaust. Thank you for your commitment to the citizens of the world who believe in freedom and human dignity. "

The president added that "Liberty, human dignity, and the Alliance for Life won the Second World War and that is not obvious. What would happen in a world where the Allies would not unite? In a world where race theory is the dominant Torah, we can only imagine. The ability that the international community then had, to unite, to work for a common purpose and the duty and necessity of the international community today to continue to work together on the basis of the shared values. "

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"Continue to work together based on shared values." Rivlin, today (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

President Reuben Rivlin, World Holocaust Forum, Yad Vashem, January 23, 2020 (Photo: Photo: Alex Kolomoisky, official website)

Rivlin warned of the spread of anti-Semitism in Europe, saying that "anti-Semitism does not stop Jews. Anti-Semitism and racism are a malignant disease that destroys and disintegrates societies and countries from within, and no society or democracy is immune to them."

Following the main event, the Prime Minister said: "The survivors forget nothing, the helplessness, the endless suffering, the flames and the smoke, the bereavement and the loss. At the same time, they remember the day of liberation and the entry of the human army into Auschwitz and the huge sacrifice of the Allies. But precisely on this day, we must say that for the six million people of our nation - the gates of hell were breached too late, too late. There will be no further Holocaust. "

Prime Minister Olmert added: "The Jewish people have learned and learned the lessons of the Holocaust, take, always take seriously the threats of those who want to destroy us and it is important that we have the power to protect ourselves. The Jewish state has produced the lessons of the Holocaust, as the world has learned. Which begins with hatred toward Jews, does not end with Jews alone. " Netanyahu called on world leaders to face Iran, "taking its threats seriously against Israel." "I am concerned that we have not yet seen a united position against the Iranian regime, the most anti-Semitic regime in the world. Tehran's dictatorship seeks to develop nuclear weapons and destroy the Jewish state."

"The Jewish people learned and learned the lessons of the Holocaust." Netanyahu (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

PM Benjamin Netanyahu, The World Holocaust Forum, Yad Vashem, January 23, 2020 (Photo: Photo: Alex Kolomoisky, official website)

After the PM made a speech to Russian President Putin, who said: "Today, in the international forum dedicated to the memory of Holocaust victims, we are united under joint responsibility. We have debt to the past and the future. We mourn all the victims of the Nazis, including six shockingly murdered Jews. ".

Russian President added: "The Holocaust is a lesson to be remembered, provided the memory is full and unadulterated. We are learning the lessons of the Holocaust and today these lessons are being played by certain people, leaders and public figures. Their role is to protect the memory of residents, of soldiers, of victims. The Nazis and their collaborators. "

The leaders of all the superpowers who were partners in the Nazi war carried on. World Holocaust Forum Today (Photo: Reuters)

World Holocaust Forum, Yad Vashem, January 23, 2020 (Photo: Reuters)

Earlier Putin opened his visit to a political meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu. After the meeting, we will meet with President Rivlin, and the three leaders together inaugurated a new monument in Jerusalem's Sacher Garden in memory of those killed by Leningrad. Some 600 invited guests attended the ceremony, including veterans who participated in World War II and survivors of the siege of Leningrad.

Putin and Netanyahu's meeting at the Prime Minister's residence was also joined by Yaffe Issachar, Naama Issachar's mother. The Russian president said in a joint statement after the meeting that "I told Naama's mother, and I will say again, that everything will be all right." Putin added: "Obviously Naama comes out of a very good family. I know the prime minister's position and make a wise decision. All of this is taken into account when making a decision. Today she will visit Naama who is responsible for maintaining human rights in Russia."

"The Holocaust is a lesson to be remembered." Putin (Photo: Jonathan Zindel, Flash 90)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, World Holocaust Forum, Yad Vashem, January 23, 2020 (Photo: Jonathan Zindel, Flash 90, Paul Photographers)

Then United States Vice President Mike Pence said, "At this event, here on Mount Herzl, we were gathered to fulfill a firm commitment of memory. Let the memory of those who died in the Holocaust be forgotten by anyone, anywhere in the world." He added that "Today we pause to remember what President Trump has called: the dark stain on human history, the greatest evil ever directed from man to man in the history of humanity."

Vice President Pence explained, "We cherish the non-Jewish heroes who saved lives, the ones the Israelis call Righteous Among the Nations. In an age of apathy they acted. In an age of fear, they showed courage, and their memory and example should ignite our hearts to do the same today." . He said, "We must confront and expose the murky wave of anti-Semitism that encourages hatred and violence throughout the world and must stand together against it."

"The greatest evil ever directed from person to person in history." Flashlight (Photo: Jonathan Zindel, Flash 90)

US Vice President Mike Pence at World Holocaust Forum, Yad Vashem, January 23, 2020 (Photo: Jonathan Zindel, Flash 90, Paul Photographers)

"In the same vein, one must stand strong against anti-Semitism, against the only government in the world that denies the Holocaust as a policy and threatens to erase Israel from the map. The world must stand strong against the Islamic Republic of Iran," Pence stressed. "We need the courage to acknowledge all the leaders and nations gathered here, that today we have the responsibility and the power to ensure that what we remember today will never happen again. I am proud to say as Vice President of the United States that the American people have been with you every step, since 1948 and so we will remain. He stated in Jerusalem, "The bond between our peoples is intertwined in our hearts and so will always be."

"Anti-Semitism is not just the problem of the Jews." Macaron (Photo: Jonathan Zindel, Flash 90)

French President, Emmanuel Macron, World Holocaust Forum, Yad Vashem, January 23, 2020 (Photo: Jonathan Zindel, Flash 90, Paul Photographers)

French President Macron made clear during his speech that "the Holocaust cannot be a history that can be played with and changed. No one has the right to bring up the memory of the survivors to raise hatred. Europe must remain united and never allow such atrocities to recur."

Macron commented on the rising anti-Semitism in Europe. "Anti-Semitism has raised its head, violent, and with it all the signs of racism and xenophobia," he said. "Anti-Semitism is not only the problem of the Jews, but first and foremost the problem of the others. We have come together here because, in the face of this new anti-Semitism, we must not give up, we are fighting each one in his own country."

"All of humanity needs to learn." Prince Charles (Photo: Jonathan Zindel, Flash 90)

Prince Charles, World Holocaust Forum, Yad Vashem, January 23, 2020 (Photo: Jonathan Zindel, Flash 90, Paul Photographers)

Then Prince Charles spoke, saying: "The sheer scale of the Holocaust that has fallen upon the Jewish people, no one can understand what those who lived in the shadow of this horror experienced. This is unthinkable. Many of you, the Jews who live around the world, are the stories Yours - whether you have experienced it yourself or have experienced it from the stories of family members or family members you did not know, but these stories are also our own stories. All of humanity has to learn lessons from them. Evil, even if not understandable, does not mean that it is impossible To win it. "

Earlier, Rivlin had met with Prince Charles and planted a tree with him in the President's house. The president told the British detainee that "I want to congratulate His Excellency. It is a great honor and a pleasure to host someone from the royal family here. We still expect your mother to visit here, I am sure she will come sometime."

German President in Hebrew: "It's a Gift to Bear Things to You"

German President Steinmeier opened his words in Hebrew, saying: "Blessed are you, Lord our God, the King of the world we lived and existed and arrived at this time. It is a gift and an act of kindness to give you things here at Yad Vashem on this day. Honorable President Rivlin, Honorable Moses Cantor, most thanks for your invitation."

According to Steinmeyer, "Here and there is the constant fire burning in memory of the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. This place reminds us of their suffering. The suffering of millions. And it reminds us of their lives, each and every one of its own and its life. This place remembers Samuel Titleman, who was a swimmer Talented and won competitions on behalf of Maccabi Warsaw and his little sister Riga who helped her mother cook the sixth meals for the family. This place also remembers Ida Goldish and her three-year-old son. The Germans were the ones who deported them, the Germans stamped a number on their arms and tried to wipe out their memory through death camps. " .

"The gift and act of kindness carry you here and there on this day." Steinmeyer (Photo: Reuters)

German President Frank Walter Steinmeier at the World Holocaust Forum, Yad Vashem, January 23, 2020 (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky, official website)

"It is important to say that here as well, those who committed the crimes were also human beings, they were Germans who murdered and planned to murder and the many who silenced a line, they too were Germans," the German president said. "The mass industrialized murder of six million Jews is actually the most heinous crime in modern history against humanity. This crime was perpetrated by my people. The horrific war that took the lives of more than 50 million people has also come out of my own country. Today, 75 years After the liberation of Auschwitz, I stand here facing you as President of Germany and I stand here and have the heavy historical journey of blame. "

The German president also addressed the wave of anti-Semitism in Europe. "The evil spirits are now rising," he said. "Both in a new way and presenting anti-Semitic thinking as a solution to the future, a new solution to the problems of our age. And I wish I could say that we Germans have learned the lesson once and for all. But I can't say that when hatred spreads." Steinmeier emphasized that "we are fighting anti-Semitism, we are trying to stand against the poison of nationalism and we stand alongside Israel. I am renewing my promise to the world and I know we are not alone."

"Hope there is a solution to hate here"

Sarah Leicht, a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor who attended the ceremony, described her excitement in talking to Walla! NEWS. "I am very excited when world leaders have come to say no to anti-Semitism. It is extraordinary, I hope that it will come out with something good, something useful, some solution to hate," she said.

Lichtel, a family member with seven children from the Wiesnitz Stork, arrived in Auschwitz at the age of 15 - where her entire family perished. According to her, "I try to stay sane, because I argue that what was impossible to change, history cannot be changed, but I can change the present and have great grandchildren and a beautiful home, and I have a reason to live and I love Jerusalem."

Netanyahu speaks during ceremony (Photo: Jonathan Zindel, Flash 90)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, World Holocaust Forum, Yad Vashem, January 23, 2020 (Photo: Jonathan Zindel, Flash 90, Paul Photographers)

When all the world leaders come here, is that a victory for you?

"Maybe it's their conscience and that's why they come. I'll say something nice: Where were they at 44? Didn't they see the chimneys smoking black smoke? What did they think they burned there? I would hate them and ask them that it never happen again. I would ask the Jews to come home, not stay in Europe with the meat pot, the pots here are full of better things. I'm scared and worried about them and sometimes I'm angry too, they have to come home. "

Need to get a practical line out of the event?

"I don't know. First of all, I ask why they hate us so much? What is it that hates us so much? You have to ask this: It's education, blood, it's hereditary? There's a big, open world, not to hate, to love, how to do it ? ".

Rivlin, Netanyahu and Putin (Photo: Jonathan Zindel, Flash 90)

President Reuben Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the World Holocaust Forum, Yad Vashem, January 23, 2020 (Photo: Jonathan Zindel, Flash 90, Paul Photographers)

Following the events, police blocked several streets in the capital. Route 1 and its interchanges will be blocked for traffic for a limited period of time in the direction of Jerusalem (East). Another road block is expected in the evening, in the opposite direction (west). Within Jerusalem, many streets will be intermittently blocked for relatively short periods of time throughout the day, from morning to evening. King David Street will hermetically block traffic until Friday.

Info Leadership Schedule Jerusalem Holocaust (Photo: Image processing)