Peres in Warsaw: Israel's inception Jews' revenge on the Nazis
Israeli president attends ceremony marking 65 years since Warsaw Ghetto uprising, says 'it is through peace that the forces of light can avenge the actions of the forces of darkness'. Polish president: We must never forget what happened during Holocaust
WARSAW, Poland - President Shimon Peres and his Polish counterpart Lech Kaczyński laid wreaths at the Monument to the Heroes of the Ghetto on Tuesday during a ceremony marking 65 years since the Jewish uprising in Warsaw.
During the service, which was attended by hundreds of students, Holocaust survivors and other guests, Peres said "The majority of the uprising fighters died, murdered in cold blood. They lost the fight, but from the point of view of history, there has never been such a victory - a victory of men over human bestiality, of pure souls over fallen ones."
Peres at Monument to the Heroes (Photo: Reuters)
"Yes, the Germans won, thanks to thousands of soldiers shooting without thought and gassing bunkers," Peres said. "What did those terrible Nazis leave to the generations that followed? Only shame, a curse and damnation."
The Israeli president added "Revenge? Of course we want revenge. A Jewish state was established – this is our revenge on the Nazis. The Arab countries attacked us seven times and were unable to defeat us – this is revenge. During times of intifadas and (Iranian) uranium enrichment, it is through peace that the forces of light can avenge the actions of the forces of darkness."
During the ceremony, the head of the Polish armed forces read the names of the Jews who fought at the ghetto, and a rabbi recited Kaddish.
President Kaczyński told those on hand that "the Holocaust period is two generations behind us, but we must never forget what happened then. Although we live in an era in which a return to such events seems almost impossible, we must still keep our eyes open."
On Monday Peres attended a Holocaust memorial ceremony at the Treblinka concentration camp, during which he said "millions of Jews lived here for a thousand years, and though their lives were not always secure, they sustained us as a people.
"It is very hard for me to stand here, but that is not the fault of the Polish people, rather it is the incomparable extermination (of the Jews) carried out by the Nazis," he said.
