‫משרד ראש הממשלה‬
THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE
‫مکتب رئيس ال ُحكومة‬
‫ראש מטה ההסברה‬
‫ויועץ ראש הממשלה לתקשורת‬
HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION
AND MEDIA ADVISER TO THE PRIME MINISTER
Translation
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Speech at the Opening of the Permanent Exhibition in
Block 27 at Auschwitz-Birkenau
June 13, 2013
I stand here today in pain but with pride. I came to speak on behalf of the citizens and people of
Israel. I came here today, together with the ministers of the Government of Israel, with Holocaust
survivors. We came from Jerusalem in order to commemorate the millions of Jews, including
hundreds of thousands of children and infants, who were murdered by the Nazis in this cursed place.
We stand here today with the survivors who lived through this hell in Block 27. This is a special
occasion, and I am very moved.
Eli Wiesel once told a visitor, "Look at the paintings; touch the names". I just saw the paintings by
the children – flowers and gallows. One child painting a rabbit running free and I saw, I touched the
names – the names of millions of Jews. Not all of them arrived here. One and a half million were
killed in the forests and towns, in the villages and in holes, including my late father-in-law's twin
sister – my father-in-law Shmuel Ben-Artzi was then Shmuel Hon, and his beautiful sister, Yehudit
Hon, was only in her twenties. I saw her name there.
Anyone who denies the Holocaust should come to Block 27 and read every name.
I wish to thank you, Mr. Minister, and the Prime Minister of Poland, for your partnership in this
important project of remembrance. In our scriptures it is written: "The Eternal One of Israel does
not lie," and we reiterate our promise today that it will also remember.
We all know that the Nazi fire of destruction was directed first and foremost at the Jews, but very
soon it spread and consumed many others, as happened here as well. What began as hatred for the
Jews, which no one stopped in time, led to the greatest crime in history and to the greatest threat to
the future of humanity.
02-5669245 :‫ פקס‬,02-6705465/7 :‫ טל‬,91919 ‫ ירושלים‬,‫ הקריה‬,3 ‫רח' קפלן‬
3 Kaplan St. Jerusalem 91919, Tel: +972 (2) 6705465/7, Fax: +972 (2) 5669245
E-MAIL: MEDIA@IT.PMO.GOV.IL
‫משרד ראש הממשלה‬
THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE
‫مکتب رئيس ال ُحكومة‬
HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION
AND MEDIA ADVISER TO THE PRIME MINISTER
‫ראש מטה ההסברה‬
‫ויועץ ראש הממשלה לתקשורת‬
When I served as Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, I conducted a campaign to open the
archive of Nazi war criminals, an archive which was hidden and locked away in the UN. No one had
entered for 40 years. When I finally walked into that archive and read through all of the files, I
discovered further proof of a shocking historic truth – the allied leaders knew what was happening
here. They could have easily diverted their planes, which were bombing the nearby chemical plants,
to here. They could have bombed the railway tracks that led to Auschwitz-Birkenau. They could
have easily bombed the furnaces in Birkenau in order to stop the death machine.
The allied leaders knew about the Holocaust at the time it was occurring. They understood precisely
what was happening in the death camps; they were asked to take action; they could have taken
action; and they did not take action.
The lesson for us, for the Jews, is clear. We cannot be complacent in the face of threats of our
annihilation. We cannot bury our heads in the sand or assume that others will do the work for us.
We must issue a warning and attempt to mobilize the world against these intentions for destruction,
but above all we cannot be helpless and surrender our fate to other's hands. We identify the danger
ahead of time and are prepared to defend ourselves by ourselves.
From this place, from Auschwitz-Birkenau, this place which is proof of the desire to exterminate our
people, I, the Prime Minister of Israel, the nation of the Jewish people, say to all countries of the
world: the State of Israel will do all that it must in order to prevent another Holocaust.
Even today there are those who declare their intentions to destroy millions of Jews, to erase the
Jewish state off the face of the earth. But today we have a sovereign country and a strong army
which allow us to defend ourselves and stop these immoral intentions. Our ability and our
preparedness to defend ourselves: this is the difference between our situation then and our situation
now. And this difference is embodied in the stories of two people who are here with me today.
The first, Joshua Shiki Shani, arrived in Bergen-Belsen at the end of World War Two as a baby.
Eventually he joined the IDF and served as a pilot in the Air Force. Shiki flew the first Hercules that
brought the IDF soldiers to Entebbe. Shortly before that, the German terrorists sorted the hostages –
they sorted them 30 years after the Holocaust. They kept the Jews and threatened to execute them.
In the impressive rescue operation, the IDF fighters freed the hostages and brought them back to the
State of Israel.
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3 Kaplan St. Jerusalem 91919, Tel: +972 (2) 6705465/7, Fax: +972 (2) 5669245
E-MAIL: MEDIA@IT.PMO.GOV.IL
‫משרד ראש הממשלה‬
THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE
‫مکتب رئيس ال ُحكومة‬
HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION
AND MEDIA ADVISER TO THE PRIME MINISTER
‫ראש מטה ההסברה‬
‫ויועץ ראש הממשלה לתקשורת‬
This is the difference between what happened during the Holocaust and what has changed since the
establishment of the State of Israel.
Another person is with us today, and his family history also embodies the great change in the
situation our people. His grandmother was a young woman when she arrived in this place, to the
work camp. Her picture is part of this exhibit. When the young girl, Rachel, arrived here and was
fighting for her survival, it is doubtful that she could have believed that one day she would leave
through the gates of hell, move to the Land of Israel and start an exemplary family, and that her
grandson, Alon, who is here with us today, would be a combat pilot in the Air Force of the Israel
Defense Forces, which ensures the future of the Jewish state.
There are those who say that the attitude towards the Jews has changed since the Holocaust. I ask
you, what has really changed?
Hatred of the Jews has changed form but it still remains. If not racial superiority, then religious
superiority is the order of the day. The world's indifference in light of this hatred has also remained.
The world has very quickly become accustomed to hearing declarations only 65 years after the
Holocaust, declarations of intent to annihilate millions of Jews – and the world continues to act in the
same manner. The hesitancy of enlightened countries to act against extreme regimes which threaten
us and threaten world peace – this too has not changed.
The only thing that has truly changed is our ability and our determination to act to defend ourselves
and prevent another Holocaust. This truth is a source of heavy and constant responsibility – to
ensure by any means necessary the future and security of the State of Israel against those who seek
our destruction.
This is the last will and testament of the six million, our brothers and sisters who perished in the
Holocaust and it is our duty – and we will carry it out.
02-5669245 :‫ פקס‬,02-6705465/7 :‫ טל‬,91919 ‫ ירושלים‬,‫ הקריה‬,3 ‫רח' קפלן‬
3 Kaplan St. Jerusalem 91919, Tel: +972 (2) 6705465/7, Fax: +972 (2) 5669245
E-MAIL: MEDIA@IT.PMO.GOV.IL