Address by Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon

On this difficult evening in Jerusalem - the heart of the State of Israel and the Jewish people, the heart of the nation - we stop for a moment.  We stop and listen to the last words of Chana, of Shmuel, of Lenka, and of Moshe, to the voices of millions of our brethren who were murdered in the Holocaust.  I read their letters – read and listen. 

I listen to the words of Yehiel Gerlitz who wrote this to his six-year-old daughter Dita in 1944:

“What can I say to my only child, truly the person dearest to me in the world?  One should open one’s heart and reveal its inside, for no pen can describe what is going on in there right now. I believe whole-heartedly” he continues “that in spite of everything we will all survive and offer our hearts to one another.”

Yehiel survived and emigrated to Israel with his wife and daughter.  Here in Jerusalem on the eve of Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day, inspired by his words, we wish to offer our hearts to one another, to return, to find and rejuvenate our inner strength – the inner strength we also draw on during the current bitter struggle we face.

The manifestations of courage of those who gaze at me from these tattered letters are the true testament for us.  The ability to fight for existence and humanity at the heart of the inferno, at the heart of the great storm and terrible devastation, the ability to rally inner forces and preserve one’s dignity, that requires a truly special brand of human courage, the courage which withstood the attempt to break the spirit of the Jewish people.  Tonight, we pay tribute to the mighty spirit of the sons and daughters of the Jewish people, to their bravery and uncompromising commitment to a meaningful life.

Ladies and gentlemen,

“The eternal people are not afraid of a long journey”. These words by Rabbi Kook reveal the basic values of our existence - perseverance, firm resolve, courage, and faithfulness to the unique destiny of the Jewish people on a journey which has already taken more than 4000 years.  These values rise up as a great voice from within the silent scream of the millions to whom we are listening here tonight in Jerusalem. 

In the midst of the harsh battle in which we find ourselves today, faced with a recurrent surge of antisemitism in Europe, we who remember the six million every day are duty-bound - as Jews and human beings – to defend our home: a warm and protected home, the only home in the world where Jews have the right and the strength to defend themselves by themselves.

This is the only way to ensure that never again will mothers send a last kiss to their children on scraps of paper while on their way to the crematoria, that never again will fathers bestow a farewell caress via notes thrust into the soles of shoes, never again will testaments written in blood be found on the walls of smoldering synagogues.

Chana, Shmuel, Lenka and Moshe – we hear your voice and it rings strong and clear.  It will be with us and will guide us forever.