A day of both remembrance and action.
Israelis stood in silence this morning as a two-minute country-wide siren commemorated the six million victims of the Holocaust. The central theme for this year's Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day is "Until the Last Jew, Until the Last Name." Yad Vashem, in the name of the Jewish People, is collecting and documenting the names of those murdered with the aim of returning to them their humanity and their identity... until the last name.
"The State of Israel does not forget," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared Sunday night at the official state ceremony marking the opening of Holocaust Remembrance Day at Yad Vashem.
"We know what hatred of Israel caused in the past. We watch with open eyes the beacons of enmity and hostility around us, and we have learned our lesson. We will never permit today's murderers and those of tomorrow to hurt our people. Whoever dares to do so will be struck. We seek peace it is our wish and our dream, but we will not sheath our defending sword," Sharon said.
Six survivors lit torches in memory of those who did not survive. Their photos and their stories are here.
Omri Ceren echoes Sharon's sentiments and fills in some of the details.
Dave at Israellycool has some very personal observations.
A note: Yom HaShoah is being observed in Israel today, even though, technically, it should have been yesterday (the 27th of Nissan). I'm not sure why, as the secular date (April 19th) was rejected when the observance was officially established. Perhaps someone can enlighten me.
