April 24 (UPI) — Israel began its Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day events Wednesday night as similar events continue through Friday in the United States.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog opened the remembrance events at Yad Vashem, Haaretz reported.
The central theme of this year’s event in Israel is “80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany,” and six Holocaust survivors lit memorial torches during the Yad Vashem event.
The Yad Vashem observance included an address on behalf of survivors and delivered by Eva Erban, who is a Holocaust survivor from Czechoslovakia.
Another Holocaust survivor from Czechoslovakia, Yhuda Hauptman, led event attendees in the El Maleh Rahamim prayer during the opening ceremonies.
A Zikaron Basalon event held in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square featured Holocaust survivor Aliza Landau and the parents of Hamas-held hostages Matan Angrest and Alon Ohel.
The United States began its weeklong Days of Remembrance events on Monday.
“This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, when U.S. and Allied troops liberated tens of thousands from Nazi concentration and death camps across Europe,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday in a prepared statement.
“We are eternally indebted to the generation who fought fascism and saved the world from Nazi tyranny,” he continued.
“We remember the 6 million Jews and millions of others murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators,” Rubio said. “We also honor the survivors who were subjected to unspeakable suffering.”
He said the world over the past eight decades has continued to learn about the “horrors of the Holocaust and the vicious anti-Semitism and state terror that fueled it.”
“We must ensure the history and the facts of the Holocaust are not denied or distorted,” Rubio said. “Humanity must not forget the catastrophe that took place during the Holocaust.”
He said the nation “remains firm” in its opposition to “global anti-Semitism” while safeguarding Jewish communities around the world.
The Days of Remembrance events in the nation’s capital run through Friday at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Events include daily readings of the names of those who died in the Holocaust and the lighting of remembrance candles.
The Days of Remembrance events at the Holocaust Memorial Museum are free and do not require prior registration.
