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Photo: GPO
Gadi Eisenkot
Photo: GPO

In honor of the fallen heroes

IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gadi Eisenkot delivers a special message to the soldiers of Israel on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Today, Holocaust Remembrance Day, we are united in the memory of our six million brothers and sisters who were slain in World War II. We are united in remembering the Jews brutally killed in the forests and in the camps. We remember the entire communities that were wiped from the face of the earth. We remember our brothers and sisters, who were killed solely because they were Jews.

 

 

The history of our people is a long one, a history of continuous hardship and pain, persecution, harassment and pogroms; but the Nazi death machine is unparalleled in its cruelty. Many years have passed, and we still find it hard to internalize the tragedy that befell our people.

 

This year marks 70 years since the end of World War II and victory over the Nazis. Seventy years have passed since the Allies defeated the Nazi regime, and the surrender of the atrocious regime to the spirit of heroism.

 

IDF troops stand to attention for the siren on Holocaust Remembrance Day (Photo: AFP)
IDF troops stand to attention for the siren on Holocaust Remembrance Day (Photo: AFP)

 

Across the years, we remember with sorrow all those who died, and extol the memory of the fighters, the rebels of the ghettos and the partisans. And we remember all of those who survived the horrors of the Nazis, immigrated to Israel and helped their brothers in arms establish our country - some of whom fell in the war for Israel's defense.

 

From the ashes and despair we arose and established the army of our people – the Israel Defense Forces. For 67 years, the IDF has been the steadfast defender of Israel - a country to which Jews from all over the world have aspired. This good and promised land, towards which our brothers who were brutally murdered in Europe turned their faces.

 

Commanders and soldiers,

 

Comrades of the IDF, we must remember and never forget. We must remember the sacrifice of the Allied fighters during World War II, vow to remember the righteous, and continue to uphold their legacy and that the bravery of our brothers who perished, and keep fighting for the security of Israel's citizens and residents.

 

We will overcome those who seek our doom by strengthening the defense of the State of Israel - on land, in the air and at sea. We stand ready and willing at all times, and, if need be, we will act with determination and might to fulfill our mission - defending the people of Israel.

 

This is our vow to our brothers, both alive and dead:

 

Never again! May the memory of those who perished be blessed.

 


פרסום ראשון: 04.16.15, 12:18
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