Ceremonies to mark the Holocaust Remembrance Day began on Wednesday evening in Israel and are scheduled to continue throughout Thursday.
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At 10 a.m., all of Israel stood silent as the two-minute siren sounded across the country. It was immediately followed by the wreath-laying ceremony at the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center.
Earlier, the Knesset held an official ceremony that was attended by Barbel Bas, the head of Germany's parliament.
Having lit a memorial candle, Bas said, "I bow my head humbly at the inconceivable suffering of the victims of the crimes against humanity committed by the Germans.
"We cannot forget and we will not forget. Our historic guilt brings about responsibility. We must fight with determination against antisemitism in all its forms and keep alive the memory and pass it on to the younger generations," she said.
At 11 p.m. began the "Unto Every Person There is a Name" ceremony at the Knesset, during which lawmakers read out the names of Holocaust victims.
At 1 p.m., Yad Vashem will begin the state memorial ceremony. At 2 p.m., the March of the Living will begin in Poland, at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp.
The closing ceremony will take place at 8 p.m. at the Ghetto Fighters' House – Itzhak Katzenelson Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Heritage Museum, in Western Galilee.
Meanwhile, 100 Holocaust survivors asked the world to stand with them and remember on Holocaust Remembrance Day in a video published by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
The project, called 100 Words, read, "Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. We all survived the Holocaust. We are here to give voice to the six million Jews who were murdered. We are a reminder unchecked hatred can lead to actions, actions to genocide. Just over 75 years ago, one-third of the world's Jews were systematically murdered.
"Among them, over 1.5 million children were killed in the name of indifference, intolerance, hate. Hatred for what was feared. Hatred for what was different. We must remember the past or it will become our future. On Holocaust Remembrance Day we ask the world to stand with us and remember."
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Survivors from around the world participated in the powerful statement including survivors from the United States, Germany, Israel, France, England, Ukraine, and Canada.
Greg Schneider, Claims Conference executive vice president said, ""The reminder survivors are giving us in this statement isn't just about remembering the past. This is a call to action to ensure our past does not become our future. We were especially touched that Ukrainian survivors we recently evacuated wanted to participate, despite their upheaval.
"More than six million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust – one and a half million of them were children, murdered just because they were Jewish. Our task is to remember those we lost, care for those who survived, and educate future generations so that the atrocities of the Holocaust are never again repeated," he said.
