TEL AVIV (Sputnik) — Air raid alarm had the country grind to a two-minute halt amid the early morning rush, stopping drivers and pedestrians alike, pausing school and university lessons and ceasing work and services, as the country remembered the Jews killed in Germany by the Nazi regime throughout World War II. Israelis traditionally mark the event by laying wreaths on Holocaust memorials, reading out the names of those killed, and watching war films and witness accounts.
"The allies could have rescued four million Jews, two-thirds of the six million killed. The powers knew the truth but did nothing as the Nazis carried out one terrible crime after another against the Jews… Has hate disappeared? No, it didn't go anywhere… Maybe the world's indifference changed?" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, referring to recently declassified UN data, during a ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust victim memorial in Jerusalem.
The prime minister went on to warn that the Jews were now ready to protect their state against any assault.
"Those who threaten Israel are placing themselves in danger… This is not an exaggeration, not a provocation, it is my statement. We must secure a future for ourselves and it is within our power to do this," he said.
The ceremony started with the lighting of six torches, each representing a million victims of Nazi crimes.
Israel's Holocaust Day does not coincide with January's UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day and is held on the commemoration date of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising's first day.
