Speech to German Bundestag - Parliament - On holocaust remembrance day - Highlights

I stand here before you, as the President of the State of Israel, the home of the Jewish People. and with me came holocaust survivors and representatives of the next generation. ...in memory of, and in honor of, the six million Jews who turned to ashes, I pray: Traditional Aramaic prayer recited in mourning: Exalted and hallowed be His great Name throughout the world which He has created according to His will. May He establish His kingship, bring forth His redemption and hasten the coming of His Messiah in your lifetime and in your days and in the lifetime of the entire House of Israel, speedily and soon, and say, Amen. May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life, for us And the prayer ends with the words which became a symbol in the State of Israel, a dream in the Jewish world: "He, who makes peace in His Heights, may He, in his compassion, make peace upon us, and upon all Israel. And they responded: Amen. I can see in my mind's eye, at this very moment, the imposing image of my deeply respected grandfather Rabbi Zvi Melzer, handsome and dignified. I was blessed to have been his beloved grandson. I still remember him at the train station from which I, an 11-year-old child started on my journey from my village to Eretz Israel. I remember his poignant embrace. I remember the last words and the order that heard from his mouth: "My boy, always remain a Jew!" The train whistled and started on its way. I continued watching my grandfather until he disappeared from sight. That was the last time I saw him. When the Nazis came to Vishniev, they ordered all the members of the community to congregate in the synagogue. My grandfather marched in front, together with his family, wrapped in the same Tallith in which I enveloped myself as a kid. The doors were locked from the outside and the wooden structure was torched. And the only remains of the whole community were embers. There were no survivors. I started with Kaddish and will end with the Hatikva: "Our hope is not lost, our hope of two thousand years, To be a free nation in our land. In the land of Zion and Jerusalem." We will allow ourselves, and I am sure you will allow yourselves, to dream and realize the dreams. This is our privilege, this is our duty. Thank you for the invitation, thank you to all of you.