Israel starts commemorating Holocaust victims with wreath-laying ceremony

Jerusalem, April 24 (IANS) Israel has started commemorating its annual Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day with an official wreath-laying ceremony here at the country's Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem.

The ceremony began at nightfall.

Holocaust survivors lit six torches in memory of the six million Jews who died at the hands of Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II, Xinhua news agency reported.

Addressing the gathering, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew a connection between the Holocaust and current geopolitical threats.

He said that Israel would continue exerting "military pressure on Hamas," destroy all of its capabilities, and "prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons".

The ceremony saw remarks by Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, who noted the difficult commemoration as the country continues to fight a war and hostages are still held in Hamas captivity.

Released hostages sat in attendance at the ceremony as Herzog prayed for the return of those still captive and for the soldiers and their families who sacrificed in the fight on their behalf.

“This day, Holocaust Remembrance Day, is not only a day for looking backward. I speak here not only 80 years after the Holocaust but also a year and a half after the greatest massacre our people have endured since the Holocaust – when we are still wounded and bleeding, reeling and anxious," said Herzog.

Remembrance activities will continue through Thursday.

At 10 a.m. local time, a nationwide two-minute siren will sound, bringing the country to a standstill in honour of the victims.

Other memorial events are scheduled to take place in schools, workplaces, and public institutions across Israel.

Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics announced on Monday that there are about 120,000 Holocaust survivors and victims of anti-semitic persecution during World War II currently living in Israel, 62 per cent of which are women.

Netanyahu noted the successes of the military since the October 7 massacre, crippling Hezbollah and Hamas, and noting the fall of the Bashar al Assad regime in Syria. He threatened Iran with a similar fate if they continued down the path of nuclear weapons.

@No one will prevent us from defending ourselves," said Netanyahu, recalling the previous year's commemoration when Israel was threatened with arms embargoes.

"If we need to stand alone, we shall stand alone. If we need to fight with our fingernails, we shall fight with our fingernails, but we will not relent."

Holocaust Remembrance Day was a milestone in the path to destroying those that seek to eliminate us, said Netanyahu, comparing Hamas and their actions to those of the Nazis and the Holocaust.

This year's Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorates the 80th anniversary of the Soviet army's liberation of Auschwitz, which exposed the full scale of the Nazis' extermination plan against Europe's Jewish population.

--IANS

int/khz