"Israel must not only defend its own borders but must also protect Jews around the world," said the Israeli army’s chief of staff, Benny Gantz, at an educational seminar at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial on Monday.
This seminar on keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive was organized ahead of Yom HaShoah, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day on Thursday.
"The Holocaust was the darkest period in Jewish history," Gantz said. "Let us not forget that our enemies wanted to eradicate the Jewish people long before the creation of the state of Israel, just as they do now."
"Warsaw, Vilna, Krakow, ghetto, hunger, diseases, death pits, men, women, children, shooting, elderly, massacre, Auschwitz, Treblinka, gas chambers,", Gantz listed many bleak terms in his address. "The list could go on for hours," he said.
"Six million were murdered and left with no grave.The richest vocabulary cannot describe the horror of the Holocaust," said the chief of staff.
"But today the situation is different because today the state of Israel and the Israeli army are capable of dealing with, and defeating, all forces that threaten the existence of the Jewish people."
"Israel has an army capable of dealing with any enemy," he said.
"We must not only defend the borders of Israel and the citizens of Israel, but Jews around the world. We must look around and pay attention to every place where Jews are being harmed simply for being Jewish," he added.
“If a Jew is beaten in Kiev during Passover, if Jewish schoolchildren are attacked in Toulouse and if Israeli delegates are attacked across the world, this underlines that Israel "must be stronger than ever," Gantz said.
"We must remain steadfast in the face of both new and old anti-Semitism. The state of Israel must fulfill its purpose of providing a safe haven for every Jewish person wherever he or she might be, where all our people can live without fear; a safe, national home defended by its military and capable of overcoming all threats."
The central theme for this year’s Yom HaShoah is "My Brothers Keeper: Jewish Solidarity During the Holocaust."
A special ceremony for Remembrance Day will take place Wednesday evening in Warsaw Ghetto Square at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.
At this occasion, Israel’s President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak and Rabbi Meir Lau, Chairman of the Yad Vashem ouncil, will kindle the Memorial Torch.
During the ceremony, which will be broadcast live on television, Holocaust survivors vill light six torches.
On Thursday, the siren will sound throughout Israel at 10 am as Israelis will stand to observe a minute of silence to remember the six million Jews exterminated by the Nazis and their collaborators.
On the evening before, the streets will be quiet, places of entertainment will be closed and most of Israelis will be at home, watching films and testimonials about the Holocaust.

EJP