Israel observed annual Holocaust memorial day Sunday. It opened officially at dusk Saturday night, with a somber ceremony at the Yad Vashem in Jerusalem where President Chaim Herzog formally bestowed "memorial citizenship" on the six million Jewish victims, in accordance with a recent amendment by the Knesset of the Law of Return.
At eight Sunday morning, sirens wailed for two minutes all over the country, bringing traffic and pedestrians to halt in silent memory of those who died.
There were memorial services throughout the day, addressed by national leaders. Premier Yitzhak Shamir stressed that Israel and the Jewish people can neither forgive nor forget Nazi crimes. Germany and other European nations cooperated with the perpetrators of the Holocaust and should therefore desist from aiding Israel’s enemies by supplying them with arms, he said. Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres spoke at the central memorial service at the Yad Vashem Sunday morning where he dedicated a new wing in memory of the 5,000 Jewish communities in Europe destroyed in the Holocaust. Israel learned not to rely on other nations or peoples but to put its faith in its own people and its own might, Peres said.
"We can rely on no other land and the doors of our land will remain forever open," he said. He appealed to Jews throughout the world to come to Israel. The day is officially called Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day. In addition to memorializing the Holocaust, it is intended to inform the younger generation, particularly those who ask why the victims apparently allowed themselves to be led to slaughter without resisting.
Two of the day’s memorial services were held at Kibbutz Lochamei Hagetaot and Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, founded by former concentration camp inmates and Jewish ghetto fighters and partisans.
Though not an official fast day, all restaurants and places of entertainment were closed for 24 hours, beginning at sundown Saturday. This is required by law. Municipal inspectors touring Tel Aviv for compliance found only one violation — a sea-front cafe was open. The owner was promptly taken to a municipal court where a fine was imposed.
The observances ended Sunday night with a mass memorial service and salute to the ghetto fighters in the amphitheater at Kibbutz Lochamei Hagetaot.
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