Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, met today with Holocaust survivors who will serve as torchbearers at the opening ceremony for Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, according to a news release from the prime minister’s office.

Netanyahu remarked, “Izi [Itzhak Kabilio, one of the survivors] said here: ‘The State of Israel is the one and only sanctuary of the Jewish people.’ This is so correct, and Michael [Michel Bar-On, one of the survivors] said: ‘We cannot rely on the nations of the world who make promises.’

“If it is possible to receive the assistance of the nations of the world, I am always for it. However, in the greatest Holocaust, great leaders like Roosevelt, who was told what was happening at Auschwitz and Birkenau and in the [other] death camps, they told him and he knew, his answer was that he would not lose a single pilot and refused to accept the Jews. They were great leaders. Churchill, who I greatly admire, tried to recruit his army but his army rebelled against him.

“If we need to stand alone – we will stand alone. If it is possible to recruit the nations of the world, how much the better. But if we do not defend ourselves – nobody will defend us.

“The strength at our disposal is the strength that I have heard here, we have no other.”

Every year, at the official Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day ceremony held at Yad Vashem, six torches are lit by Holocaust survivors, symbolizing the six million Jews who perished. The personal narratives of these torchbearers mirror the central theme selected by Yad Vashem for Holocaust Remembrance Day. Their unique journeys are depicted in brief films showcased during the ceremony.