Apr. 28, 2003Israel remembers the HolocaustBy ETGAR...

Apr. 28, 2003
Israel remembers the Holocaust
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS

Vowing never to put the security of the Jewish people in the hands of others, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Monday night at the start of Holocaust Martyrs` and Heroes` Remembrance Day that the murder of six million Jews during World War Two has demonstrated that the Jewish people can only achieve true peace and security through vigilance and steadfastness.

"We seek peace with all our hearts, but we have learned this lesson: it is not by weakness, nor with a faint heart, that we will achieve security and peace, rather with boldness, courage and a willingness to guard that which is most precious and vital to our future," Sharon said at the official ceremony marking the opening of Holocaust Martyrs` and Heroes` Remembrance Day at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.

"The Jewish people arose from the abyss of the Holocaust critically wounded, but still breathing. Never again will Jews be defenseless, unprotected and homeless. Never again will we place our security in the hands of strangers, nor rely on the kindness of others," Sharon said in an emotional address that was peppered with direct and indirect references to Israel's present-day political situation.

"We will not be led astray by illusions, nor underestimate those who wish us harm. We shall be strong, determined and steadfast in defending ourselves," he said, as a crowd of paratroopers stood in attention.

A two minute siren marking the day—which this year is highlighting Jewish Resistance to the Nazis as the world marks the 60th anniversary of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising—will sound at 10 a.m. throughout the country Tuesday morning.

In an emotional and direct keynote address at the annual Holocaust ceremony Monday night, which was attended by hundreds of dignitaries led by the premier and President Katsav as well as Holocaust survivors, Sharon said that Israel's struggle against Palestinian terrorism provides a pretext for anti-Semites worldwide, who, the premier noted, "often wears the transparent veil of anti-Israel propaganda."

"This foul wave [of anti-Semitism] sharpens our understanding that the State of Israel is the only place in the world where Jews have the right and the capability to defend themselves, by themselves. This is the only answer to anti-Semitism and racism, and is the only guarantee that the victims who perished [in the Holocaust] will not be forgotten," he said. In the first address at the hour-long ceremony, which was carried live on all Israeli television and radio channels, President Katsav noted that no foreign county came to the help of the Jews as they were annihilated.

"A terrible darkness and a cruel death swooped over the Jews of Europe, the Jewish people and all of humanity. The world knew yet ignored the destruction of the Jews. This embarrassment needs to accompany humanity forever, just as the memory of the Holocaust will accompany the Jewish people through all time," he said.

Following is a translation of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's address at the opening ceremony of the Holocaust Martyrs & Heroes Remembrance Day.

Distinguished Guests,

58 years ago, the canons were silenced in Europe. The Nazi beast was defeated, and the world was delivered from the dark, racist regime - the cruelest and most profane ever known. Reeking mountains of ash and ruin remained, burying a Judaism so splendid, ancient and rich in tradition, mercilessly destroyed by the eradicating hand.

This year, the Holocaust Martyrs & Heroes Remembrance Day marks the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The uprising became the symbol of Jewish resistance in the ghettos, forests and Partisan groups, and of the courageous struggle of one and a half million Jews in the Red Army, United States Army, the armies of the British Empire and other forms of mobilization which rose to defend freedom and human civilization from oppression and destruction.

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising will forever be remembered as a burning torch - the beacon of heroes lit by young Jews - headed by members of all the Zionist youth movements - facing the inferno.

However, Jewish heroism also found other means of elevated expression and manifestation: the courage of the Jewish mother holding her child in her arms in their last hour, the bravery of the father who risks his life to save a piece of bread for his son, the heroism of those reaching out to their fellows in servitude and pain, the valor of those who nurse their dying friend, the fortitude of those who overcome despair in the death camps and the spirit of those who preserve Jewish tradition by conducting a Passover Seder while hiding in the ravaged Ghetto.

The Jewish people arose from the abyss of the Holocaust severely wounded, but still breathing and wiser. Never again will Jews be unprotected and homeless. Never again will we place our security in the hands of strangers, nor rely on the kindness of others. We will not be led astray by illusions, nor underestimate those who wish us harm. We shall be strong, determined and steadfast in defending ourselves and will cut off any hand raised against Jews anywhere. We seek peace with all our hearts, but we have learned this lesson: it is not in weakness, nor with faint heart, that we will achieve security and peace, rather with boldness, courage and a willingness to guard that which is most precious and vital to our future.

The past year has seen a marked increase in the severity of anti-Semitic incidents around the world, as well as in the scope of anti-Semitic propaganda, which often wears the transparent veil of anti-Israel propaganda.

Israel's legitimate struggle against murderous Palestinian terror provides an excuse for savage and violent anti-Semitic attacks. In addition, the loathsome phenomenon of Holocaust denial continues. World Jewry, and all those who seek freedom around the world, must uncompromisingly fight these grave phenomena wherever they rear their ugly head.

This foul wave sharpens our understanding that the State of Israel is the only place in the world where Jews have the right and the capability to defend themselves, by themselves. This is the only answer to anti-Semitism and racism, and is the only guarantee that the victims will not be forgotten, nor will Holocaust deniers find a place among us.

This sentiment was best expressed by warrior-poet Haim Guri:

From this fire, which enveloped your tortured and burnt bodies
We ignited a torch for our souls,
In which we lit the blaze of freedom,
And with which we marched into battle for our land.

Your suffering, which is unmatched,
We have molded into iron and sharp-edged ploughs;
The insults you endured, we have transformed into guns
Your eyes, into lighthouses for ships approaching in the night -

We have avenged your bitter and lonely deaths
With our fist, heavy and warm;
To the burnt ghetto we built here a monument,
A monument of life - a life which shall never be forsaken.