At precisely 10 o’clock on Sunday morning, the mournful wail of a siren brought Israel to a standstill, as it does every year on Yom Hashoah.
The two-minute siren, which could be heard in every street and alleyway in the country, wailed in memory of those who died in the Holocaust.
At the sound of the blast, people froze in midstride. Drivers stopped their cars in the middle of the road and stood at attention. Nothing — not even the blue-and-white flags that were flown at half-mast — moved in the hot, breathless air.
This year, Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day, paid special tribute to those who resisted the Nazis through organized revolts and personal struggles.
Events at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial and the Knesset focused on the 50th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which became the symbol of Jewish resistance throughout Europe during the Holocaust, and on smaller revolts in several ghettos and death camps.
On Saturday night, the eve of Yom Hashoah, all restaurants and places of entertainment such as movie theaters and concert halls were closed, adding to the already solemn atmosphere.
Israel Radio confined its selections to Israeli folk songs and classical music, while Israel Television pre-empted its regular programming with programs about the Holocaust.
At Yad Vashem, Holocaust survivors, their families and dignitaries gathered for the first of three emotion-filled ceremonies.
Six survivors, all of whom now reside in Israel, lit the six memorial torches. Three of the torch-bearers fought in the Warsaw Ghetto resistance, two participated in the uprising at the Bialystok Ghetto and one fought in the prisoners’ revolt at Treblinka.
In speech after speech, dignitaries remembered the fallen and called on Israel to prevent another Holocaust.
‘YOUNGER GENERATION REMEMBERS’
On Sunday morning, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin told those gathered at Yad Vashem, “We have learned from the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising not to be weak, that we can depend only on ourselves. The State of Israel will ensure that the Holocaust will never happen again.”
Referring to the recent upsurge in anti-Semitic and other hate crimes around the world, Aaron Carmi, head of the Organization of Partisans, Fighters and War Disabled, said, “We will not tolerate the emergence of neo-Nazism anywhere in the world.
“We must be careful and vigilant,” he said. “We will maintain and protect our strength and security so that we will be able to make peace with our neighbors.”
Yitzhak Arad, the chairman of Yad Vashem, sounded the only upbeat note of the day when he scanned the large crowd and observed, “I see many of our third generation here. The young people are very sensitive to the Holocaust, and every year more and more youths attend the ceremonies.
“This is proof that the younger generation remembers, and it must lead the way to protect future generations,” he said.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
