Israel marks Holocaust remembrance day
Posted April 8, 2013 7:05 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Israel came to a halt on Monday as the country marked Holocaust remembrance day.
Sirens sounded for two minutes and throughout the day, television stations devoted their broadcasts to documentaries and interviews with Holocaust survivors.
Rachel Shtibel, who now lives in Vaughan, is one of those survivors. She spent two years of the war in a three metre by three metre bunker underneath a barn in Poland.
“We were like sardines. If one wanted to turn, then we all had to turn,” Shtibel, 77, told CityNews.
“We were so sick, [it looked like] skeletons crawling out.”
Shtibel was smuggled out of the bunker in a wagon filled with dead bodies.
“I was told that at the gate, [the guards] would poke and check, so I cannot breathe, because if you were found, you would be shot on the spot,” Shtibel said.
In Jerusalem, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who returned to the region just two weeks after U.S. President Barack Obama’s first visit as president, laid a wreath at Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum beside Israel’s leadership.
Kerry, who arrived in Israel on Sunday as part of a 10-day trip to the Middle East, Europe and Asia, was scheduled to hold talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders during his three day visit to the region.
Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird was also in Israel on Sunday, attending a ceremony with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu said during the ceremony that Israel was stronger than ever and has the ability to defend itself on its own.
Israel had urged world powers to set a deadline of weeks for military action to persuade Iran to halt its uranium enrichment activity.
Israel, believed to be the only Middle East state with an atomic arsenal, sees Iran’s atomic plans as a threat to its existence and has threatened military action.
“There is someone who asks to turn off our light, Iran declares openly its intention to destroy the state of Israel, it is taking all the steps to achieve this goal,” Netanyahu said.
“What has changed since the Holocaust is our determination and our ability to defend ourselves, defend ourselves on our own. We appreciate the international community’s efforts to stop Iran’s nuclear program, but at no stage will we leave our fate in the hands of others, even our closest friends,” he added.
With files from CityNews staff
Holocaust Remembrance Day events in Toronto
Shtibel will be speaking at Ryerson University on Monday night alongside Dr. Regine King. The two will discuss healing through writing and the Holocaust Remembrance Day and Rwanda Genocide Memorial Day. Click here for more.
Holocaust survivor Felix Opotowski will share his story at the Jewish Urban Meeting Place (JUMP) on Tuesday night. Click here for more.
