Israelis observed two minutes of silence on Thursday as sirens wailed in remembrance of the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust.
The country came to a complete standstill, while traffic stopped in the middle of roads in cities and on highways, as drivers and passengers got out, bowing their heads in silent observance.
The 10 am (0700 GMT) sirens marked the start of a state wreath-laying service at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Centre in Jerusalem during Israel’s annual Holocaust Memorial Day, which began after sunset Wednesday and lasts until sunset Thursday.
Ceremonies were also conducted at schools, colleges and universities throughout the country.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at an opening ceremony at Yad Vashem, charged that worldwide anti-Semitism remained pervasive.
“Nazi ideology pointed to the Jews as the source of all evil in the world.
“Lies about the Jews and willfully false propaganda about Israel are being spread on social media – means Hitler and Goebbels would not have dreamed of,’’ he said.
Netanyahu added that modern anti-Semitism pointed to Israel as the source of all evil
“Hostility against Israel, not just in the Arab world, but also in the West.
“Including among British lawmakers, senior officials in Sweden and public opinion-shapers in France, had long ago departed from legitimate criticism,’’ he charged.
In Poland, some 10,000 Jewish youths from around the world are set to participate in the annual March of the Living a 3-kilometre march from Auschwitz to Birkenau, the two sections of the largest Nazi extermination camp complex.
Although the United Nations has designated January 27 as international Holocaust Remembrance Day, Israel traditionally marks it on the 27th day of the Jewish month of Nissan, one week before Independence Day.
“This is to symbolise the rise of the state of Israel from the ashes of the Holocaust,’’ it noted. (dpa/NAN)
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