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President Shimon Peres carrying a torch during a memorial service at the Nazi Death Camp of Treblinka, eastern Poland, on Monday. (Reuters)
Last update - 00:38 16/04/2008
Peres, at Warsaw uprising memorial: Israel will avenge Holocaust through peace
By Lily Galili, Haaretz Correspondent, and News Agencies
Tags: Israel, Shimon Peres, Poland 

President Shimon Peres delivered an address at a ceremony marking 65 years since the Warsaw ghetto uprising, stating that peace is the way in which Israel must avenge the horrors of the Holocaust.

"During times of intifadas and [Iranian] uranium enrichment, it is through peace that the forces of light can avenge the actions of the forces of darkness."

On Monday, Peres did not grant the Poles penance or absolution on Monday. Nevertheless, when he said at the foot of the memorial at the Treblinka death camp: "It is difficult to stand here, not because of you, but because of what was here," Peres was saying out loud, alongside Polish President Lech Kaczynski, what the Polish people had been hoping to hear.
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For years the Poles have been waiting for recognition that even if the horrors of the Holocaust may have taken place on their soil, they did not carry them out.

As Peres looked at the Israeli soldiers and youth groups accompanying him, he added: "If we had had these soldiers and young people then, this would not have happened to us, and it will not happen to us in the future. We will not let the beast go crazy again," the president said.

Israeli and Polish flags fluttered in the afternoon breeze as Poland's chief orthodox rabbi, Michael Schudrich, chanted the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead. Then, to the beat of a military drum, Peres, Kaczynski and survivors of the ghetto uprising placed wreaths at the foot of the monument, which was flanked by two large iron menorahs.

Peres praised the young fighters, who he said displayed a heroism that "our children will proudly carry with them in their hearts. The majority of the uprising fighters died, murdered in cold blood. They lost the fight, but from the point of view of history, there has never been such a victory," Peres said. "A victory of men over human bestiality, of pure souls over fallen ones.

"Yes, the Germans won, thanks to thousands of soldiers shooting without thought and gassing bunkers," Peres said. What did those terrible Nazis leave to the generations that followed? Only shame, a curse and damnation."

Two layers to Peres visit

Monday's event at Treblinka was the first of Peres' four-day official visit to Poland. Given the complex relations with Poland, the visit also has two layers: the Jewish part, which includes marking the 65th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto revolt; and the diplomatic side, in which Peres will meet with the Polish prime minister and give a speech in Hebrew in parliament.

However, in Poland, the two halves of the visit are not truly separate, and are interlinked, as at Treblinka on Monday.

When Kaczynski spoke of the good relations between the countries, which he only wants to improve, he mentioned in the same breath the Polish righteous gentiles who risked their lives to save Jews during the Second World War; and thanked Peres for his support of the nomination of one of them, Irena Sendler, for the Nobel Peace Prize.

All the ceremonies commemorating the Holocaust are similar to one another - and each is awe-inspiring in its own way. 880,000 Jews were murdered at Treblinka, most from Poland. The way to Treblinka passes through dozens of quiet towns and roads, with statues of Jesus and Mary standing at intersections. However, all this piety is forgotten in the face of the 17,000 crooked granite stones spread out over the grounds of the death camp, giving it the look of a surrealistic graveyard partially hidden in the forest.

Three quarters of the Polish Jews murdered here were from Warsaw, coming from the ghetto whose mythological bravery will be commemorated in a ceremony today.

Kaczynski, previously the mayor of Warsaw, did not forget to mention where the residents of his city who were killed here came from.

But an Israeli cloud of disagreement was hovering over the events. Joining the visit was former defense and foreign minister Moshe Arens, who has been dedicating a large part of his retirement to proving the part played by the Beitar revisionist movement in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Arens claims the official histories have written them out of the story. When asked about this, Peres chose to answer diplomatically, saying he honors all the fighters and victims.

Sixty-five years later, it seems Israel is reaching a certain level of balanced understanding with the Poles, but is still waging an internal battle on the history being written about the various groups. "Is there a single Jewish heart that does not tremble from the intensity of the pain and the greatness of the achievement?" wondered Peres at a meeting with 300 members of the Warsaw Jewish community at the end of a long day.

The heart trembles, but it still is searching for its place in the ethos of heroism.

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      1.   The Poles Were Neither Friends Nor Enemies 03:23  |  dyinglikeflies 15/04/08
      2.   Thank you Mr. Peres 04:23  |  Justine 15/04/08
      3.   Bravo, Peres! 06:22  |  Greg 15/04/08
      4.   Simon Persky back home, stay home 06:52  |  kasper 15/04/08
      5.   Congratulate the Poles for what? 06:59  |  Edelbert 15/04/08
      6.   Re #1: Haaretz Censors - Asleep at the switch! 07:11  |  Michel 15/04/08
      7.   Re #1: Haaretz Censors - Asleep at the switch! 07:11  |  Michel 15/04/08
      8.   Re #1: Haaretz Censors - Asleep at the switch! 07:11  |  Michel 15/04/08
      9.   In there souls 08:24  |  Dennis Slapo 15/04/08
      10.   WHAT A BORING ARTICLE ! I UNDERSTAND NOTHING 09:52  |  ATİLLA KARAGÖZOĞLU 15/04/08
      11.   The typical Haaratez`s propaganda . 09:57  |  as 15/04/08
      12.   to #5 Edelbert 10:13  |  Pawel 15/04/08
      13.   to as 10:26  |  Harry 15/04/08
      14.   kasper 10:29  |  harry 15/04/08
      15.   #11 ROCK IN ROLL :) 10:47  |  Borat 15/04/08
      16.   POLISH ANTISEMITISM. 11:19  |  Robert 15/04/08
      17.   JEWISH ANTIPOLONISM 11:43  |  Ewa 15/04/08
      18.   To Harry 12:16  |  as 15/04/08
      19.   to Ewa 12:24  |  Harry 15/04/08
      20.   Poles & Jews 12:38  |  Chaim Abramowicz 15/04/08
      21.   To Harry 12:39  |  as 15/04/08
      22.   Polish citizens not Jews 12:46  |  Joel 15/04/08
      23.   Harry and all (1) 13:02  |  Ewa 15/04/08
      24.   Harry @all (2) 13:13  |  Ewa 15/04/08
      25.   Harry @all (3) 13:15  |  Ewa 15/04/08
      26.   turn on Polish TV now! 13:17  |  Ewa 15/04/08
      27.   Harry and all (1) 13:30  |  Ewa 15/04/08
      28.   Do not revenge from the Palestinians 13:46  |  Taha Mokhtar 15/04/08
      29.   To, 21 Chaim 14:00  |  Jozef 15/04/08
      30.   to as 14:02  |  Harry 15/04/08
      31.   to Ewa 14:04  |  Harry 15/04/08
      32.   Harry 14:23  |  Ewa 15/04/08
      33.   #5 Kasper or Kasperczak, Peres is from Russia! 14:31  |  Max Zinger,P.Chimist 15/04/08
      34.   Sinners and Saints 14:40  |  Sherlock Holmes 15/04/08
      35.   Righteous among the Nations 14:44  |  Philip 15/04/08
      36.   Polish antisemitism? 14:49  |  Marcin 15/04/08
      37.   #18 Ewa, Ypours is the typical Polish excuse and allegation that 14:49  |  Max Zinger,P.Chimist 15/04/08
      38.   and Harry 15:06  |  Ewa 15/04/08
      39.   It is well known... 15:07  |  Adelbert 15/04/08
      40.   # 33 Ewa, You are in denial.Wa aren`t antiPolish.Its your hate... 15:15  |  Max Zinger,P.Chimist 15/04/08
      41.   to Max Zinger 15:23  |  Ewa 15/04/08
      42.   #39 Max Zinger 15:33  |  Ewa 15/04/08
      43.   President Shimon Peres said in Poland... 15:45  |  Mira 15/04/08
      44.   more tripe and pretence that facts dont exist 15:48  |  victor hardman 15/04/08
      45.   Ewa. 2 years ago M.Edelstein,leader of Ghetto Uprising sent a le 15:56  |  Absolute Sweden 15/04/08
      46.   Maz Zinger, the admirer of Jakub Berman @34 16:02  |  Chris 15/04/08
      47.   hollingsworth on Treblinka. Instead of `see no evil` 16:07  |  examiner 15/04/08
      48.   It`s so easy to throw a stone... 16:29  |  Jacek 15/04/08
      49.   to hollingsworth 16:33  |  TAZ 15/04/08
      50.   to absolute sweden - Jewish Nazis 16:34  |  Ewa 15/04/08
      51.   Chris,admirer of Felix Derzynsky,keep Peres with you 16:36  |  Absolute Sweden 15/04/08
      52.   to Michel 16:41  |  hollingsworth 15/04/08
      53.   Harry will be forced to conclude.... 16:44  |  hollingsworth 15/04/08
      54.   TAZ supplies my laugh for the day 16:47  |  hollingsworth 15/04/08
      55.   to Ewa 16:49  |  Harry 15/04/08
      56.   to Ewa 17:01  |  Harry 15/04/08
      57.   I agree with Peres, pace is the answer 17:03  |  Yosi the Israeli 15/04/08
      58.   to Joe - go to England, you can be beaten 17:09  |  Joe 15/04/08
      59.   Ewa,Chris&Co:Polish doctors and ambulance crews were murdering 17:10  |  Absolute Sweden 15/04/08
      60.   "Resist the Devil and he will flee from you." Through the Power 17:32  |  of God`s Love... 15/04/08
      61.   Polsce bardzo brakuje braci Żydów 17:50  |  Andrzej 15/04/08
      62.   festiwal kultury zydowskiej 17:55  |  tymoteos 15/04/08
      63.   Yes, Jews are really mistaken about Poles - and even Germans... 17:58  |  bat yam 15/04/08
      64.   My fathers family 18:07  |  Nicole 15/04/08
      65.   to Harry 18:21  |  Ewa 15/04/08
      66.   to 63 18:25  |  Harry 15/04/08
      67.   silence 18:28  |  js 15/04/08
      68.   yes!!! look at all the peace peres brought you!!! 18:32  |  over the top 15/04/08
      69.   Here is a better idea 18:37  |  Ephraim 15/04/08
      70.   I agree with Peres 18:51  |  Edith 15/04/08
      71.   One step at a time 19:06  |  Jessi 15/04/08
      72.   @ 60 19:07  |  michal 15/04/08
      73.   Contradiction 19:08  |  Arthur 15/04/08
      74.   Why? 19:18  |  Daniel 15/04/08
      75.   #39 Ewa;; Polish antisemitism gre with Polish 19:23  |  Max Zinger,P.Chimist 15/04/08
      76.   Yes, and we are seeing what Israel means by peace, piece . 19:23  |  El-Birawi 15/04/08
      77.   Harry: "You are a disgrace!" 19:28  |  hollingsworth 15/04/08
      78.   Peres - Does This Explain His Stubborn Refusal to Accept Reality 19:39  |  Tod Zuckerman 15/04/08
      79.   77elbirawi-Genious,Jews were not "fighting for freedom & liberty" 19:47  |  truth be told 15/04/08
      80.   #24 Chris, When one hides something and runs out of lies 19:52  |  Max Zinger,P.Chimist 15/04/08
      81.   to Hollingsworth 19:57  |  TAZ 15/04/08
      82.   hollingsworth Are you senile or just sick (see #48) 20:05  |  examiner 15/04/08
      83.   Haaretz moderator 20:07  |  anon 15/04/08
      84.   Since he brought it up... 20:13  |  Colin Wright 15/04/08
      85.   Hollingsworth 20:27  |  George W. Bush 15/04/08
      86.   El Birawi 20:32  |  George W. Bush 15/04/08
      87.   El Birawi Part2 20:35  |  George W Bush 15/04/08
      88.   Haaretz moderator 20:45  |  Ewa 15/04/08
      89.   Harry @ 56 20:52  |  Greg 15/04/08
      90.   George Bus for Real, my God 20:59  |  El-Birawi 15/04/08
      91.   bat yam 21:01  |  Greg 15/04/08
      92.   Max Zinger 21:05  |  Chris 15/04/08
      93.   to harry 21:07  |  ewa 15/04/08
      94.   Hypocrite!israel is the anti Peace country in the ME! 21:12  |  lakshmi 15/04/08
      95.   Haaretz censorship 21:16  |  Ewa 15/04/08
      96.   To #76 Max Zinger 21:27  |  Jakub 15/04/08
      97.   #38 @Max Zinger 22:08  |  AnnaCz 15/04/08
      98.   Avenging the holocaust is not Israels business 22:09  |  John 15/04/08
      99.   Vengence through peace? Sounds Orwellian 22:14  |  Natallie Durson 15/04/08
      100.   # 41 @Max Zinger 22:19  |  AnnaCz 15/04/08
      101.   To Poland rather than to Pollard I wonder why 22:37  |  Dennie 15/04/08
      102.   # 60 Absolute Sweden 22:43  |  AnnaCz 15/04/08
      103.   2 22:45  |  neddie 15/04/08
      104.   #64 @ bat yam 22:52  |  AnnaCz 15/04/08
      105.   To all Jews disliking Polish People 22:58  |  E. Sandecka-Izdebska 15/04/08
      106.   #75 @Daniel 23:05  |  AnnaCz 15/04/08
      107.   all 23:15  |  Adam 15/04/08
      108.   #76 @ Max Zinger 23:18  |  AnnaCz 15/04/08
      109.   #76 @Max Zinger 23:28  |  AnnaCz 15/04/08
      110.   #81 Max Zinger 23:36  |  AnnaCz 15/04/08
      111.   ZOB vs ZZW 23:37  |  Chris 15/04/08
      112.   To all Jews disliking Polish People 00:08  |  E. Sandecka-Izdebska 16/04/08
      113.   ad nauseum 00:36  |  whoa nellie 16/04/08
      114.   that`s sad 00:37  |  michal 16/04/08
      115.   mostly to Max Zinger 01:00  |  Adam 16/04/08
      116.   propaganda 01:05  |  iymen 16/04/08
      117.   Peres` way to "avenge Holocaust" is by bringing rockets on all .. 02:19  |  Chaim 16/04/08
      118.   to dyinglikeflies 02:39  |  Bob 16/04/08
      119.   whoa nellie 03:23  |  hollingsworth 16/04/08
      120.   Anti semitism is part of the root cause of the Holocaust 03:46  |  Joseph . E 16/04/08
      121.   E. Sandecka-Izdebska # 100 _ Jews Do Not Dislike 05:26  |  Eli 16/04/08
      122.   Holingsworth 05:46  |  Rab Burns 16/04/08
      123.   hollingsworth _ Second Try _ General Dwight Eisenhower 06:46  |  Eli 16/04/08
      124.   to 112 09:50  |  Harry 16/04/08
      125.   to Anna Cz 10:16  |  Harry 16/04/08
      126.   Polish antisemitism 11:04  |  jedenz 16/04/08
      127.   AnnaC,I`m likening it to scenes described in "Fear",where victims 11:15  |  Absolute Sweden 16/04/08
      128.   Bob, 118- Ukranian History Is Complex 11:39  |  dyinglikeflies 16/04/08
      129.   Why Jews accuse Poles 11:42  |  Kacper Piotrowski 16/04/08
      130.   #124 @Harry 1 14:42  |  AnnaCz 16/04/08
      131.   #124 @Harry 2 14:43  |  AnnaCz 16/04/08
      132.   #129 Kacper Piotrowski, If you need a clear example why 14:48  |  Max Zinger,P.Chimist 16/04/08
      133.   #100 AnnaCz read historical documents and books on the topic 15:36  |  Max Zinger,P.Chimist 16/04/08
      134.   Irena Sendler very ill 18:56  |  Ewa 16/04/08
      135.   To Eli - #121 19:04  |  E. Sandecka-Izdebska 16/04/08
      136.   Harry @ 112 20:27  |  Greg 16/04/08
      137.   #135 E. Sandecka-Izdebska, I`ll attempt to answer 21:21  |  Max Zinger,P.Chimist 16/04/08
      138.   Israel doesn`t know the meaning of peace. 21:32  |  Deborah 16/04/08
      139.   to Anna Cz 23:37  |  Harry 16/04/08
      140.   to Anna Cz 23:51  |  Harry 16/04/08
      141.   to Greg 23:55  |  Harry 16/04/08
      142.   to Deborah 00:00  |  Harry 17/04/08
      143.   re 139 00:06  |  Greg 17/04/08
      144.   Max 137 00:07  |  Greg 17/04/08
      145.   @Harry 01:45  |  Kacper Piotrowski 17/04/08
      146.   To Max Zinger - #137 02:10  |  E. Sandecka-Izdebska 17/04/08
      147.   # 96 Not Nonsense but facts as reported by commanders 03:13  |  Max Zinger,P.Chimist 17/04/08
      148.   # 143 Kacper Piotrowski; Freedom of speech is a noble policy.Why 03:37  |  Max Zinger,P.Chimist 17/04/08
      149.   #115 Adam, So now you have it follks, from Adam 04:33  |  Max Zinger,P.Chimist 17/04/08
      150.   israel better get with PEACE end of it, then! (2nd try) 07:08  |  eric 17/04/08
      151.   Peres Brought Arafat To Israel And Let Him Kill Jews 07:49  |  Ben Israel 17/04/08
      152.   Harry @ 141 07:59  |  Greg 17/04/08
      153.   Max 12:03  |  Greg 17/04/08
      154.   to Grzegosz 12:04  |  Harry 17/04/08
      155.   Hery @ 152 12:28  |  Greg 17/04/08
      156.   Max y 12:28  |  Greg 17/04/08
      157.   #133 @ Max Zinger 13:06  |  AnnaCz 17/04/08
      158.   Max Zinger 14:52  |  Adam 17/04/08
      159.   jews go home to poland 15:57  |  sam i am 17/04/08
      160.   # 137 Max Zinger 1 16:23  |  AnnaCz 17/04/08
      161.   # 137 Max Zinger 2 16:25  |  AnnaCz 17/04/08
      162.   128, dyinglikeflies (Part 1) 16:38  |  Bob 17/04/08
      163.   WWII 20:31  |  Greg 17/04/08
      164.   #147 @Max 1 23:02  |  AnnaCz 17/04/08
      165.   #147 @Max 2 23:10  |  AnnaCz 17/04/08
      166.   Polish complicity 23:15  |  ericnave 17/04/08
      167.   #148 @Max 23:23  |  AnnaCz 17/04/08
      168.   #147 @Max 1 (second attempt??) 23:41  |  AnnaCz 17/04/08
      169.   #147 @Max 3 23:46  |  AnnaCz 17/04/08
      170.   128, dyinglikeflies (Part 2) (attempt 2) 01:57  |  Bob 18/04/08
      171.   Bob 07:26  |  sweis Melbourne 19/04/08
      172.   Conclusion to everyone - especially to Max Zinger! 15:11  |  E. Sandecka-Izdebska 19/04/08
      173.   171, sweis Melbourne (2nd attempt to post) 15:38  |  Bob 19/04/08
      174.   gaza 04:11  |  yitz 07/05/08
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