Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Netanyahu in Auschwitz: We will never let the hand of evil harm our people and our state, never again

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told dignitaries gathered at the Auschwitz extermination camp on Wednesday that the Holocaust demonstrates how imperative it is to "warn the world of impending danger," an indirect reference to Iran's nuclear program.

After a short introduction in English Netanyahu switched over to Hebrew. He began his speech with the Aramaic words that open the Kaddish prayer – “yitgadal veyitkadash Shmeh Raba” – “may the name of G-d be grow great and be sanctified” - and said that the last words of many of the Jews who were murdered at Auschwitz were the call of “Shema Yisrael” – "Hear O Israel."

He then said that many of the slain must also have uttered another phrase before their death: “Remember what Amalek did to you – do not forget.”

"The lesson of the Holocaust is that murderous evil must be stopped as early as possible when it is still in its early phases and cannot yet realize its intentions,This lesson must be internalized by all the world's enlightened nations. We, the Jewish people, internalized it well, after losing one third of our nation on the blood-soaked earth of Europe. We learned that we must be prepared to defend ourselves. We have learned that the only guarantee for the survival of our nation is a strong Israel and its army – the Israel Defense Force. We learned that we must alert the nations of the world and be prepared to defend ourselves.”

"We must warn of the impending danger to the rest of the world and at the same time to be ready to defend ourselves,".
"We remember those who froze to death, and if they didn't freeze were gassed and burned in crematoriums. We remember that a third of the Righteous Gentiles, those who risked their lives and more than this, risked the lives of their children and families to save others, were Polish,".

Many of the Holocaust victims shouted or whispered the Shema prayer in their last moments. "They could have shouted: 'Remember what Amalek did to you.' We will always remember what the Nazi Amalek did to us, and we will not forget the new Amalek that has appeared on the stage of history."

"We will not take this lightly and believe that these are empty statements. We will not be calm as if threats and denial of the Holocaust were just blank words. We will never forget and always remember to stand guard."

"I pledge as prime minister that we will never let the hand of evil harm our people and our state, never again," the prime minister said. "I came here from Jerusalem to say to you, 'Am Yisrael Chai'."