Over 80 ambassadors and heads of missions from countries around the world attended the ceremony.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa'ar with foreign ambassadors at the ceremony for Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "The millions of Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust cried out for help, but no one came to save them. We will not allow the new antisemites to rob us of the right to self-defense. Never again!"
The Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony dedicated to the memory of diplomats designated as Righteous Among the Nations was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ceremony took place adjacent to the Righteous Among the Nations Wall at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which honors 49 diplomats who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.
The ceremony was attended by over 80 ambassadors and heads of missions from countries around the world who were invited to the event. Swiss Ambassador to Israel Simon Geissbühler spoke at the ceremony, commemorating the memory of Carl Lutz, a Swiss diplomat who saved tens of thousands of Jews during the Holocaust.
Excerpts from FM Sa’ar’s remarks at the ceremony:
"The moral and historical lesson that humanity must derive from the Holocaust involves recognizing the profound moral collapse that transpired in Europe during those horrific years. The Nazi regime was indeed insane.
“The Nazi regime required extensive cooperation across Europe to implement its plans. Both nations and elites were involved, with few displaying humanitarian attitudes, while many collaborated and others remained passive. At the same time, countries worldwide closed their borders to individuals attempting to flee Europe to any destination.
“During this dark time, tens of thousands of individuals, Righteous Among the Nations, distinguished themselves through their exemplary behavior among hundreds of millions. Their commitment and courage were revealed discreetly, never openly.
“The Jewish people are one of the oldest in history. They would have been one of the greatest nations in the world had they not lacked a protective force for so many generations.
“Countless times throughout history, prior to the Holocaust, our people stood helpless and defenseless in the face of persecution, murder, and riots of varying magnitude in many countries. In this sense, the Holocaust was also part of a historical continuum, the culmination of a historical drama of a helpless people, due to their lack of sovereign existence, cut off from their homeland, and devoid of protective power.
“Millions of Jews, murdered in the Holocaust simply because they were Jews, cried out for help, but no one came to save them. We are determined to preserve the Jewish state in our historic homeland forever, and to preserve its protective force – the IDF. To preserve the capabilities that our people so tragically and desperately lacked in the 1940s. To preserve the right to self-defense - which the new antisemitism seeks to rob us of. We know today - as does the entire world, even if it does not draw the necessary conclusions from this - that there are many around us who seek to destroy us. Not to harm us. To destroy us. They don't just dream about it. They plan it and work towards it. But we swore: never again! This oath will not be broken. We will remember our murdered brothers and sisters. We will pass on the memory and its lessons to our sons and daughters. We will fulfill our vow: never again!”