Biden at Yad Vashem: Israel a central bolt in our existence

US Vice President Joe Biden visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum on Tuesday and at the end of his visit, signed the site's guestbook. He wrote that as a young father, he took his children to visit the Dachau death camp in German, to make them understand how brutal mankind can be.

He visited the site with his wife Jill. In a note that he left behind he told his hosts how he took his children to visit Europe at the age of 15, and then took his son to Israel, to show him that the human spirit cannot be destroyed, and that it lives on.

Joe Biden (Second from right) at Yad Vashem (Photo: Ohad Zeugenberg)

Biden added that Israel is the heart, life and hope of the world's Jews, and that it saves lives every day. He said that anyone who doubts this, should visit the museum, and that the State of Israel is a central bolt in the world's existence.

The American vice president added that each day, Israel challenges the words of poet William Butler Yeats who wrote, "Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart."

His wife Jill also signed the guest book, and wrote that she will never forget, and will always remember those lost in the Holocaust.

Dr. David Silberklang, a top historian and editor of the Yad Vashem Studies, accompanied the Bidens on their visit, and told Ynet the vice president was very moved by the tour and expressed much interest.