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IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi visiting former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau on Wednesday. (IDF Spokesperson's Office)
Holocaust Remembrance Day
IDF chief at Auschwitz: We take calls for Israel's destruction seriously
By Haaretz Service and News Agencies
Tags: Yad Vashem, Holocaust, Israel 

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi said Thursday that on this Holocaust Remembrance Day, Israel takes very seriously the calls for its destruction.

Ashkenazi addressed 12,000 people at the March of the Living ceremony in the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland, saying "in these days, as we celebrate 60 years of independence, the fact that an independent Jewish state exists is not something to be taken for granted. Even today, we hear the horrible sounds of those who call for the destruction of the state of Israel. Even today we are forced to continue and fight for our right to have a national home in a safe place for the Jewish people in their own land. We have learned our lesson and we take very seriously the threats of state leaders who call for the destruction of Israel."

"I stand here on this cursed ground, from which the cries of our brothers will forever radiate, I salute our six million brothers and sisters who were persecuted and sentenced to exile, and I carry the Israeli flag. Jewish blood will never again be forsaken," Ashkenazi continued.
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"Here, in the most terrible place, I stand on this Holocaust Remembrance Day as the commander of the Israel Defense Forces alongside hundreds of Witnesses in uniform by my side - joining the thousands of representatives of the IDF who come here every year, commanders of the ground forces, the Air Force and the Navy - the defending force of the Jewish people, reborn in its land ? with tight lips, a coarse voice and tears in my eyes, yet still standing tall - I salute the ashes of our people and vow 'never again'" he added.



Ashkenazi on Thursday led some 12,000 young Jews, Poles and Holocaust survivors in the March of the Living, an annual event held at the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

It was the first time an IDF commander has led the international program for Jewish teens.

Education Minister Yuli Tamir and Chelsea Football Club manager Avram Grant also participated in the event, which was held as Israel marked the annual Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day.

This year's march, the 17th, started with the blowing of the shofar, or ram's horn, at the iron gate - crowned with the words Arbeit Macht Frei, or Work Sets You Free - that leads into the former camp of Auschwitz.

Traditionally, participants carry white-and-blue Israeli flags and are led by some camp survivors on their two-mile trek between Auschwitz and Birkenau, another area of the camp that is the site of wooden barracks and ruins of the gas chambers.

The Kaddish - the Jewish prayer for the dead - will be said at a huge stone monument to the camp's victims at Birkenau.

At least 1.1 million people, including Jews, Poles and Roma, were killed in the camp's gas chambers or from starvation, disease and forced labor. The camp was liberated in January 1945 by Soviet troops.

On Wednesday, Ashkenazi spoke of the importance of stopping global military threats.

During an address former Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp on the second day of an official visit to Poland, Ashkenazi referred to the U.S. decision not to bomb the camp during World War II despite knowing of the horrors taking place there.

"And today, they don't know what is happening in Iran?" the IDF chief posed.

Olmert, Peres read out names of relatives killed in Holocaust

Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres read out the names of family members who were killed in the Holocaust, participating in a Knesset ceremony marking Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day.

Cabinet ministers, MKs and survivors of the World War II Nazi genocide also took part in the state ceremony.

Olmert listed the names of members of his wife Aliza's family who were killed in the Holocaust. Peres read out the names of his relatives who were killed, as did Defense Minister Ehud Barak for members of his mother's family.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni listed the names of women who fought against the Germans during the Second World War.

Earlier Thursday, a two-minute siren wailed nationwide at 10:00 A.M. to mark the day.

Traffic came to a total standstill as drivers stood next to their cars and pedestrians stopped walking, many of them standing to attention or with their heads bowed to remember the victims of the Holocaust.

Israel began marking the annual remembrance day at nightfall on Wednesday, in a ceremony at Yad Vashem where Olmert lashed out at Holocaust deniers.

"The voices of those who deny the Holocaust are also being heard. To them, the haters, the deniers, and all the conspirators of evil and to all of those who allow them to function within their realms, we say today: This shall never happen again," Olmert said.

The prime minister told the audience that, "Sixty-three years have passed since the Satanic factories of death of the Nazis and their collaborators seized to operate, yet with the passing of time, the dimensions of the Holocaust still remain beyond comprehension, unfathomably shocking, unacceptably chilling."

"Who would have believed that 63 years later, hatred of Jews and Israelis would rear its ugly head in so many different places around the globe, provocatively and venomously, inciting hatred?" he asked.

Earlier at the Yad Vashem ceremony, Peres called on world leaders to act against modern global threats to ensure that such events as the Holocaust never occur again.

The national commemoration began at 8 P.M. with a ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Center in Jerusalem. The ceremony opened with the lighting of torches and a series of speeches by Israeli leaders, including Peres, Olmert, and Yad Vashem Council chair Yosef Lapid, himself a Holocaust survivor.

Hundreds filled the main plaza on a cool evening to listen to the speeches, prayers and music, including a children's harmonica band founded by Shmuel Gogol, a survivor of the Warsaw ghetto.

Six survivors lit beacons during the solemn ceremony, commemorating the six million Jews who perished at the hands of the Nazis.

Yad Vashem events:

  • Yosef v'Echad: Ethnic interpretations of traditional Holocaust memorial songs. The group will repeat their musical performance four times throughout the day.

  • Artwork Collage: Drawings by 1,500 elementary school children from across the spectrum of Israeli society will be displayed in the Family Square, opposite the International School for Holocaust Studies. Drawn following a course of study about the Holocaust, the 4-5th graders illustrated their feelings and thoughts via drawings.

  • 'U'vacharta B'Chaim,' Photographic Exhibition. The exhibition is a tribute to survivors who volunteer to give testimony at the School. Each participant chose three photographs from his own personal album: a childhood photo (where possible), a photograph from the time of their immigration to Israel and one current photo, with their family in Israel.

  • 'Us and the Holocaust' The exhibition includes graphic design posters by students at Shenkar College in Ramat Gan and ORT College in Jerusalem. The posters reflect a contemporary outlook as the graphic design students relate to the topic of the Holocaust.

  • Ceremony for youth movements with the participation of hundreds of youth and Holocaust survivors, addresses by Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev, Holocaust survivor Yisrael Aviram and a representative of the youth movements. With the participation of singer Ninet Tayeb, Nuri Koren of the Yad Vashem Project Muzika and the Youth Movement Choir, conducted by Adi Ron. Masters of Ceremony: Tom Avni and Eliana Bakier, held in conjunction with the Ministry of Education's Youth and Social Administration-Valley of the Communities.

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      1.   This is so paradoxical 20:45  |  Rowan 30/04/08
      2.   Respect 20:47  |  Angel 30/04/08
      3.   What world Holocaust celebration day means for me 20:53  |  Made up name 30/04/08
      4.   Slander and guilt 21:01  |  Realist 30/04/08
      5.   To 3 21:08  |  Israeli Jew 30/04/08
      6.   What a shame 21:08  |  Jeff 30/04/08
      7.   This is so sickening 21:11  |  Angel 30/04/08
      8.   Peres 21:12  |  H B 30/04/08
      9.   #10 Realist 21:14  |  Chris Linthwaite 30/04/08
      10.   #9 21:16  |  Jim 30/04/08
      11.   Hello Palestinian in UK 22:47  |  Dudu 30/04/08
      12.   never forget 22:59  |  rm 30/04/08
      13.   #2 Delusional Deborah....still at it! 23:22  |  DR 30/04/08
      14.   #8 made up name...are you for real? 23:26  |  DR 30/04/08
      15.   Christian School in Gaza 23:36  |  Padraig 30/04/08
      16.   I`m not sure it is not going to happen again 23:44  |  Edith 30/04/08
      17.   Iran and the Holocaust 23:56  |  Bruce Rubin 30/04/08
      18.   #3 and #7, John..you are both pathetic!!! 00:00  |  DR 01/05/08
      19.   Peres is a total disgrace! 00:22  |  Dutch Dirk 01/05/08
      20.   #3: How Pathetic 00:24  |  Cynic 01/05/08
      21.   Both sides should remain quiet for one day....... 00:34  |  Swiss (Dino) 01/05/08
      22.   To response #4, Angel. 01:25  |  sandra chitayat 01/05/08
      23.   #8 Dav 01:29  |  ub40 01/05/08
      24.   The ultimate message of Holocaust day 01:37  |  Mark Lincoln 01/05/08
      25.   #5, I disagree 02:05  |  Zach 01/05/08
      26.   #3 Made up name ! 02:07  |  wh 01/05/08
      27.   Made up name: a good name for a thief 03:17  |  Darth Zaider (Ed) 01/05/08
      28.   Are the voices of palestinian freedom seekers heard? 05:32  |  Aounist 01/05/08
      29.   Pompous ass Rowan of London 05:39  |  Akiva P 01/05/08
      30.   to the simpleton,"madeupname", 05:49  |  Akiva P 01/05/08
      31.   H B yet just another... 05:55  |  Akiva P 01/05/08
      32.   Abbas is one of the deniers 05:57  |  Jason 01/05/08
      33.   response to the Made up name 06:34  |  Peyman 01/05/08
      34.   for one day NO POLITICS PLEASE 07:59  |  david 01/05/08
      35.   WE ARE STILL HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 08:40  |  Ben 01/05/08
      36.   S. Dino: For once you show some decency 08:48  |  Mankind 01/05/08
      37.   To all the Arabists and Peaceniks 09:04  |  Abraham Saks 01/05/08
      38.   Rowan:ur ability to read is quite paradoxical 09:16  |  Mankind 01/05/08
      39.   LETS HOPE WE (HUMANTY) NEVER MEET IT AGAIN. 10:12  |  Atilla Karagözoğlu 01/05/08
      40.   My heart is in Israel 10:58  |  KUTW 01/05/08
      41.   To Brave Ben: G-d bless you 11:14  |  Abraham Saks 01/05/08
      42.   Meanwhile.... denial of the Armenian Holocaust continues 11:16  |  Denialist Hunter 01/05/08
      43.   The Medina is not our Saviour! 11:23  |  Motic 01/05/08
      44.   Carry on pre-war Jewish learning 11:29  |  Joe 01/05/08
      45.   500 Internal Server Error

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