Israel marked Holocaust Remembrance Day on Thursday, paying tribute to the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis during World War II.
The Jewish state came to a standstill at 10 a.m. Thursday as sirens wailed nationwide. The sirens were followed by ceremonies marking Holocaust Remembrance Day in schools, public institutions and military bases.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chief Justice Esther Hayut attended a wreath-laying ceremony at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, while President Reuven Rivlin led the traditional March of the Living in Poland, alongside former Chief Rabbi Meir Lau and a special delegation of senior Israel Police and IDF officials, including Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, Israel Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh, Mossad Director Yossi Cohen and Shin Bet Security Director Nadav Argaman.
Polish President Andrzej Duda also participated in march.
Over 12,000 youths from 41 countries were set to take part in the march. After the march, participants will arrive in Israel to take part in Independence Day celebrations next Thursday.
Following the march, the delegation was scheduled to visit memorials to Holocaust victims at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.
Speaking at the state ceremony marking the onset of Holocaust Remembrance Day on Wednesday evening at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, Netanyahu said, "We have seen the swastika waved by the rioters near Gaza. We have seen the Syrian children who were slaughtered with chemical weapons. Our hearts are broken by the horrific sights."
In his speech, Netanyahu had a message for Iran's leaders: "Do not put our resolve to the wwww. I also have a message for the Iranian people: Israel is not your enemy, but the despotic regime oppressing you. When it is gone, both our ancient peoples will be able to live in cooperation and brotherhood.
"In the Holocaust, we were helpless, defenseless and voiceless, to be honest, our voices weren't heard at all. Today, we have a strong country, a strong military and our voice is heard among the nations."
Netanyahu mentioned the Nazi flag that was flown on the Gaza border during last week's border riots, saying, "We saw the Syrian children who were butchered with chemical weapons, our hearts broken at the sight of the horror. One great lesson accompanies us ever since the Holocaust: When people do not stand up to murderous evil, it spreads quickly. It gradually threatens humanity in its entirety.
"That was my central message at the global security conference in Munich two months ago. I came to Munich as the Israeli prime minister with the knowledge that the difficult events that took place in the city. In Munich, the Nazi oppressors began spreading the terrible race theory. In Munich, the leaders of the free world signed a conciliatory agreement with the aggressor 80 years ago.
"The lack of willingness among the powers of the West to stand firm in the face of the tyrannical regime, their lack of willingness to pay the price of stopping aggression at an early stage, led to humanity paying a much greater price later on," the prime minister said.
"Now that we have an independent state, it will never behave in this mistaken manner. We are curbing the hostile aggression, and these are not empty words. We back them up with action. Decisiveness in the face of aggression, decisiveness in defense, deterrence, attacks, decisiveness against anyone who threatens our destruction.
"Because today, too, a radical regime threatens us, threatens world peace … this regime explicitly declares its intentions to destroy us, the Jewish state. There are those who delude themselves, as in Munich in 1938, that the agreement with the Iranian regime will stop the aggression. But throughout history, we have seen over and over how agreements with these types of regimes weren't worth the paper they were written on. The same happened with the nuclear deal," Netanyahu concluded.
President Reuven Rivlin spoke ahead of Netanyahu at the ceremony, saying, "In Poland, on European soil, on the ashes of our brothers, I will say something tomorrow in a simple way: There is a Holocaust and there are Holocaust deniers, and the difference between them is the truth. Everything Amalek did to us is etched in our memories – the memory of an ancient people. Those who aided Amalek and those who stood aside are also etched in our memory. Those who heard the cries and did not lift a finger."
The president said, "We will never allow those who seek to deny the truth [of the Holocaust] or those who seek to make us forget it [to do so] – even when it comes to heads of state. No political, diplomatic or economic interest will make us turn a blind eye to it. From Europe, we do not expect justice that will correct the past, but we do expect to find true partnership n European countries. We do not expect Europe's countries to pass on to the younger generation a sense of guilt, but the torch of memory and the responsibility in order to bravely grapple with the anti-Semitism and racism.
"This year, we mark 70 years to the [founding of] the State of Israel. The country is not compensation for the Holocaust – the Holocaust is what threatened our ancient dream of a return to Zion and Jerusalem. The Jewish people established the State of Israel while it was hemorrhaging, beaten and bruised. Almost 50% of the fighters in the War of Independence were Holocaust survivors. The State of Israel forever changed the balance of terror" that threatened the existence of the Jewish people, he said.
"Those who seek our downfall everywhere know those days have passed. The anti-Semitism will not disappear, the hatred of Israel has not changed, but the reality has changed: Today, we are strong."
Holocaust Remembrance Day will also be commemorated with events organized by organizations that work with Holocaust survivors and in the education system. As part of the "Name and Candle" initiative, some 800,000 elementary school students will light memorial candles either at school or at home with their parents in honor of those who perished in the Holocaust.
