The chair of the Memorials Committee and honorary secretary of the Israel Diamond Exchange Hagai Halevi: "This year Holocaust Day marks the efforts of individual Jewish fighters who rose up against the forces of evil."
"As we do every year at the diamond exchange, we are gathering in memory of our brothers and sisters," said Hagai who led the traditional Holocaust Day ceremony today (April 8) in the Trading Hall attended by management and leaders of the Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) as well as many IDE members.
"We are stopping and looking at the people of Israel and gathering insights for the future. The sadness, mourning and memory are aimed at making us all think and look once again to renew our commitment to the eternal values of the People of Israel and especially its renewal in the state of Israel after the Holocaust."
Following the siren that is always sounded at 10am on Holocaust Day and the minute's silence that is observed in memory of the six million Jews killed, Halevi said: The Holocaust came down on our people in a way that was never seen before. Six million people were murdered, tens of thousands of communities were destroyed in 21 countries where our forefathers lived for almost 1,000 years.
"This year, Holocaust Day marks the efforts of individual Jewish fighters who rose up against the forces of evil. Despite being persecuted, the Jews fought and defended their honor and created the miracle of the uprisings in Warsaw, Vilna, Kovno and other ghettoes. Jews fled to the forests and fought alongside the partisans against the well-organized and armed enemy despite having very few weapons themselves."
Halevi spoke about the rebirth of the Jewish people in the generation that followed the Holocaust, and the importance of mourning and remembering. He spoke about the example of Peretz Fyvel Hochman – a Holocaust survivor who died just last week and who was due to light one of the ceremonial torches at a special observance at the Yad Vashem Museum on April 7.
Fyvel, who was in the headlines in Israel recently, was known as one of the Jewish youths who became friendly with young Christian cigarette sellers in the Three Crosses Square in Warsaw and in that way saved their lives. He took part in operations against the German army and was awarded five medals for bravery from the Polish army and afterwards received an award from the president of Poland.
Following Halevi's speech, Trading Hall Committee Chairman Yehoram Harel Haimoff read a psalm and the traditional prayer for the dead.
The ceremony ended with the entire audience singing the national anthem: Hope.
