'We will never leave our fate in the hands of others'

Speaking at the annual Yad Vashem ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows: "There will never be another Holocaust" • President Shimon Peres: The Jewish spirit cannot be burned in crematoria.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres

Netanyahu speaks as soldiers stand at the opening ceremony of the Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Yad Vashem. | Photo credit: AP

"In every generation our enemies rise against us to destroy us. In every generation, each man must view himself as though he had survived the Holocaust and went on to found the state of Israel. In every generation, it is our duty to ensure that the Holocaust does not recur." So said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday at the start of the annual ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.

"During the generation of the Holocaust we were helpless to prevent the destruction. Many failed to recognize the danger in time, and once they did, it was too late. The trap had been set, the trap door had shut. The gates of our land were closed to Jewish refugees, as were the gates of most countries. From that point, it became very easy to exterminate our brothers and sisters — six million of them."

"Hatred of Jews, which peaked in Nazi Germany, the Jews' weakness in exile and the world's helplessness — these three factors came together to bring about the tragedy of the Holocaust. However, in the depths of darkness, a major shift in the fate of the Jewish people began. In the death camps and the ghettos, in the Warsaw Ghetto, Jewish history shifted. That is where the Jewish resistance rose up again."

"That is where the spirit of the Maccabees was rediscovered. That is where the flag of rebellion was waved anew. In the depths of despair unlike anything humankind had ever known, young Jews mustered up their power to resist and their Jewish courage, and fought back against the Nazi enemy. The fact that they were defeated did not diminish the power of their courage, nor did it diminish the great transformation they instigated in the history of our people."

"The defenders of the ghetto went from being helpless victims to becoming brave fighters. Five years later, with the same spirit, the few versus the many, Israel Defense Forces soldiers, among them many Holocaust survivors, defeated the Arab armies that tried to destroy the State of Israel. Our ability and willingness to defend ourselves are what ensures our continued existence and our future."

"We will know how to defend ourselves"

"Several days ago, I bid farewell to a young lieutenant colonel who served in the military secretary's office at the Prime Minister's Office. He is relocating to the Negev to train the future commanders of the IDF at the officers' academy. He moved me immensely when he told me about his grandmother Hannah, who survived Auschwitz. The number that the Nazis tattooed on her arm ended in the numerals 78. As luck would have it, the identification number that Hannah received upon entering the State of Israel also ended in 78. Her number of death had turned into a number of life in the State of Israel. Hannah, who is watching us from the audience right now, survived the Nazi inferno, and today, her grandson, an officer in the IDF, is preparing our future commanders."

"I am proud to be the prime minister of this people, but there are those who seek to extinguish this light of ours. Iran has openly declared that it intends to annihilate the State of Israel. We appreciate the efforts made by the international community to halt Iran's nuclear program, but at no point will we ever leave our fate in the hands of others, not even the closest of our allies."

"I am certain of Israel's power, and I have faith in the Israel Defense Forces. I believe in you, the citizens of Israel. We are stronger today than ever before, and we will overcome the challenges that face us, as difficult as they may be. Never again will we get to a point where it is too late. Never again will we stand helpless in front of those who seek to kill us."

"We will know how to defend ourselves. In this place, and on this day I vow: There will never be another Holocaust."

The Jewish spirit cannot be burned in crematoria

President Shimon Peres also addressed the gathering at Yad Vashem on Sunday, saying:

"The Holocaust will not sink into history's gaping hole. It is here with us, burning, real. It resonates as we step on the stones of the ghettos. It hovers like a ghost in the barracks of the camps. It cries from the prayer shawls, the hair and the shoes that we see with our own eyes."

"It whispers from the tears that dried before we said goodbye. It is reflected in the photographs of the babies in their mothers' arms. The noise of those murderous trains which have ceased moving still rings in our ears. The smoke has cleared, but it has not faded as it drifted into the sky above."

"Survivors walk among us, the Holocaust and its horrors are with them every day. Their blood flows through our veins.

Their bravery accompanies every step of our lives. There was no greater horror in the history of mankind. Nothing can undo the greatest darkness mankind has ever known."

"The 74 years that have passed are more of a biography than a history. Millions of names are still missing, of parents and children, of entire Jewish communities that were destroyed. There is no substitute for the culture, for the values, and for the talents that are gone. They remain as an open wound."

"We will not stop searching for every scrap of information, for a name yet to be identified, for a photograph that has been blurred. A third of our people, six million, were murdered for no reason."

"The Jewish people today are fewer compared to their number at the eve of World War II. We decreased in size, but not in spirit. We are working with all our might to fill the void. Physically and spiritually. To grow out of the ashes, to create something out of nothing, to defend. To foster our independence, and not to tire from efforts to better the world we live in, tikkun olam."

"The Holocaust is an orphan with no comfort and a moral responsibility that cannot be compromised. It does not permit us, the Jewish people, to turn a blind eye. It must always serve as a warning to all of humanity."

"The map of Europe still contains local stains of anti-Semitism. The racism that was rampant on that land in the last century dragged it down to its lowest point. Ultimately the killings there damaged it as well."

"To our shame, there are some who have learnt nothing. Young [neo-nazi] skinheads. False scientists dressed in false suits. Yes! There remain those who repress the Holocaust and there are those who deny the Holocaust. Not all the volcanic eruptions have subsided. Crises are once again being exploited to reestablish ridiculous, yet dangerous, Nazi parties. Sickening anti-Semitic cartoons are supposedly part of the freedom of the press."

"The journey for justice and freedom is not over yet. When I hear the four words, 'Let My People Go' I feel again and again that the journey out of the house of slavery our people embarked on has not ended, and must not ground to a halt. It must not stop until slavery, in every way shape and form, is abolished — in every place, in every situation, until the winds of freedom blow away the stench of racism and clear the evil smoke."

"The enlightened world must ask itself how, so soon after the crematoria were extinguished and despite the terrible death toll the Allies had endured in the effort to counter the Nazi devil, the leaders of Iran feel they can openly deny the Holocaust and threaten another Holocaust."

"Whoever ignores the threat against one nation, must know that the threat of a Holocaust against one nation is a threat of a Holocaust against all nations."

"The Jewish people may be small but it they are large in spirit. That spirit cannot be burned in crematoria. From the ashes of the Holocaust emerged a spiritual revival and a political renaissance. Some of our people were cut off from the rest, but we rose and we built a state of our own."

"We lost possessions, but retained our values; We returned to our ancient homeland; We renewed our moral legacy;

We returned to independence; We returned to creation, to education, and we returned to hope."

"We built a defensive force capable of dealing with dangers, new and old. The Israel Defence Forces, which was formed in response to the attempt to annihilate the Jewish state that had just been created, is also the right lesson from the Holocaust. It is founded upon the bravery of Jews in the Holocaust."

"Today, Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day is also the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. There has never been a rebellion like it. They were so outnumbered, but their bravery remains as a model for so many. From now and forever! Today we salute their bravery with the flags flying in the wind of freedom. These are flags of exaltation, not only of grief."

"The resistance in the ghettos, in the camps and in the forests and the rebirth and bravery of the State of Israel all have a common thread. This involves dignity, renewed independence, mutual responsibility and kiddush Hashem [willingness to sacrifice oneself in the name of God]. As a ray of hope that continued to beam alongside terrible anguish. The ghetto fighters sought life even when circumstance screamed despair."

"A few days ago, Peretz Hochman passed away. The small cigarette vendor who became a great hero. Peretz Hochman came home to Israel and fought in Israel's wars with the courage that so typified him. He passed away only a few days before he was supposed to stand with us, here today, on this stage and light the torch. His flame is now orphaned, but his light will continue to illuminate."

"Touting the heroism of the fighters is not just a matter of doing justice to their bravery. It is an existential need, for each of us, for all of us as a people. We have always praised their heroism, but not always paid tribute to the actual heroes."

"It is now time we do that. We have not always listened to their heartbeats or attended their health and taken care of their well-being. Time has come to right this wrong."

"The history of the Holocaust is not just a lesson from the past, it is also a lesson for the future so that we know how to defend ourselves against dangers and thwart them in advance. It serves as a lesson that we shall rely on ourselves, so that we retain our moral legacy, which withstood impossible situations. We must maintain our friendship with friends, and work with them to foster a better future, for every person, for every nation, for all nations so we can ensure humanity never again becomes inhumane. We'll ensure that every person has the right to be unique — unique and equal. We will never despair. After all, we were commanded: 'Do not fear, my servant Jacob' because 'The Lord will give strength to his people.'"