Mr. Chairman,
Honorable Members of the Knesset,
Our Beloved Veterans,
Every year we commemorate the victory over Nazi Germany on two occasions. You who stand adorned with medals, even though you are no longer so young, you always stand straight and I am always intrigued. I always ask myself – what is this medal? And you answer: This is one battle. It could be at Kursk, it could be at Stalingrad. It could be at Normandy. But row after row of medals and decorations, each one describing a battle, some of which were terrible battles, among the fiercest in the history of mankind.
I am always deeply moved by your dignified and restrained manner. I always want to attempt to get you to tell me what happened. But you are always too modest to do so. As a boy I read about your acts of bravery. As a cadet in the Officers' Course, I read a book, which I am sure other friends also remember, "The Panfilov Men", and many other such books.
We know that through your courage you saved the entire world, and even more so, we know that through your courage you saved the Jewish people. If the Nazi monster were to have won, the Jewish people would have become extinct. Other peoples would have survived and would have continued living under a regime of darkness and of terrible despondency but would have survived nevertheless. But the Jewish people would have become extinct. Therefore, your courage saved the Jewish people, and of course enabled the establishment of the State of Israel.
When I say your courage, first of all I am referring to the 500,000 Jewish fighters in the Red Army, out of whom 100,000 were officers. This is an astonishing ratio, and out of that number, 200,000 fell. If only we could understand the strength and the magnitude of this sacrifice and toll.
We must remember the 40,000 Jewish youth who were recruited into the British Army, here in Israel. This was an extremely large number, almost 10% of the community. In fact, these two streams of Jews in the Red Army and Jews born here before the founding of the State, in the British Army together with former members of the Underground, created the foundation of the IDF. The IDF was actually established upon the foundation of fighters, of Jewish veterans in the Red Army, of Jewish fighters in the British Army and other armies and former members of the Underground.
A circle is being closed here, as your children, and mainly your grandchildren, are currently serving in the same IDF, which you twice laid the foundations for: in defending the future of the Jewish people and in creating a military heritage, which actually permits the existence of a Jewish Defense Force today.
I mentioned a defense force - we are in need of this more than ever. Mr. Chairman, you were correct in saying that "Hatred of the Jews is no less prevalent today than it was in the past, and to a certain extent, as it was in the past." And it becomes clear from a historical perspective that hatred of the Jews did not reach its peak and disappear after the Holocaust. It was not a fleeting episode; it has accompanied us for thousands of years, and has not disappeared yet.
It was simply vanquished for several decades but has returned and is spreading. However, what has changed in our situation, in the world of the Jewish people, is not the disappearance of Jew-hatred – but the Jews' ability to defend themselves from this hatred. I wish to tell you, the group of heroic veterans present, that you really gave such a great gift to mankind and to our people: I promise you that we will never again lose the defensive force of the Jewish people. We are indebted to this bequest today more than ever.
With warm greetings.