Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met Thursday morning at Platform 17 in Berlin to hold a memorial ceremony for victims of the Holocaust.
The two national leaders were joined by Holocaust survivor Franz Michalski, German Jewish community representatives and members of the delegation.
“I am very moved, Chancellor Scholz, when we both stand here representing the new Germany and the reborn Jewish state,” Netanyahu said.
“Less than 80 years ago, six weeks before the end of the war, when Berlin was already in ruin, the Nazis sent the last shipment of Jews to be exterminated. Our world has changed. Germany has changed. The Jewish state was reborn,” he added.
Netanyahu also noted that modern threats continue against the Jewish people.
“But we know that the calls for the annihilation of our people have not stopped. The main lesson we have learned is that when you are faced with such evil, you have to obstruct its evil designs early on, to prevent catastrophe,” the prime minister shared.
“We are now faced with other calls for the destruction of the Jewish state and millions of Jews. We have learned that the Jewish people must have the capacity to defend ourselves, by ourselves against any threat,” he continued.
Netanyahu highlighted the strong friendship between Israel and Germany and their alliance against those who seek to harm the Jewish people.
“But we also welcome the friendship of those who share our concern, our values and our desire to prevent these rogue regimes and these crazy ideologies from destroying our world. It is a trusted alliance, and one that I think is expressed in our standing here today,” he concluded. “I thank you, Chancellor Scholz, for this important and moving ceremony. Thank you.”
According to the prime minister’s office, the ceremony began with a minute of silence, the laying of wreaths and the lighting of memorial candles by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor. Chabad Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal recited the Kaddish prayer in memory of the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. The ceremony concluded with the singing of Hatikvah.