Brazilian president visits Yad Vashem
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva holds tour of Holocaust museum accompanied by President Shimon Peres and former Chief Rabbi Meir Lau, says every leader must visit site
Upon his entrance to the Children's Memorial, da Silva said that the two greatest crimes in the history of mankind were the Holocaust and slavery. At the end of the tour he noted that anyone who wants to head a nation must visit Yad Vashem and added that the Holocaust would not be allowed to occur again.
Da Silva and Peres in Yad Vashem (Photo: AP)
During the tour, Rabbi Lau made a reference to the Iranian issue in light of da Silva's scheduled meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad next week. He addressed the Brazilian president and asked him to send a message to Ahmadinejad on his behalf.
He said that as a "child of Buchenwald" he would ask that da Silva tell the Iranian leader that he would meet with him at any time and was confident he would be able to prove to him he was wrong about his denial of the Holocaust.
Rabbi Lau also referred to the comparison da Silva made between the Holocaust and slavery and said that while slavery had been abolished the threats of Holocaust had not ceased.
