Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa’ar’s speech at a ceremony to commemorate the dark day the Chișinău Ghetto was established (July 24th, 1941), alongside Moldova’s Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Mihai Popșoi:
“My friend, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mihai Popșoi,
CEO of the Jewish Community Dr. Aliona Grossu,
Dear members of the Jewish community,
I want to begin by thanking the Foreign Minister for his partnership and for his friendship.
Mihai, you are a true personal friend in a friendly country.
I also want to commend your participation in the Conference Against Antisemitism in Jerusalem this May and the true words you said there with regard to the terrible massacre of October 7th. Thank you.
We appreciate your warm attitude to the State of Israel and to the Jewish community here in Moldova.
In February I came to Chișinău to open our Israeli Embassy.
I am glad to be back.
Since then, relations between our nations continue to grow stronger.
We signed a bilateral agreement to cooperate on legal issues. And we are about to sign another two on tourism and agriculture very soon.
Moldova is a true friend and we thank you Deputy Prime Minister, and the President, for the solidarity and the support. We are also true friends to Moldova.
****
Ladies and gentlemen,
Today marks an important and difficult day in history.
On July 24th, 1941, the Chișinău Ghetto was established.
We stand here together to remember the tragedy that happened to the Jewish community of Chișinău.
It was the beginning of one of the darkest periods in the history of the European and the region’s Jewry.
Thousands of Jews were forced into the ghetto.
They faced cruel conditions.
Many perished there.
Many were deported to Transnistria, where they faced a similar fate.
Moments ago, we commemorated the memory of Lea Schwartzman.
Lea was born in Chișinău in 1918.
She was murdered in Transnistria in 1942.
Her fate was shared by thousands of others.
Women, men, and children from the Jews of Bessarabia were torn from their homes.
They were murdered in the Holocaust as part of the systematic elimination of European Jewry.
May their memory be a reminder and a lesson to our Jewish future generations:
The Jews of Chișinău and Europe as a whole – were murdered simply because they had nobody to defend them.
We are an ancient nation.
We should have been today one of the largest nations on earth today.
For 2,000 years in exile, our people were murdered because we lacked a means of self-defense.
This is mainly why we are still a small nation.
But today, we have a proud, strong and independent Jewish state. We have the ability to defend ourselves.
We are the generation entrusted with ensuring that there will not be another Holocaust.
But let us be painfully honest.
Only 80 years have passed.
Today we again face an attempt to eliminate the Jewish people – this time after its return to the Land of Israel.
The Iranian regime, its leaders and allies – Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis – publicly call, and act – for the elimination of the State of Israel.
They pursue nuclear weapons for that purpose.
In Operation ‘Rising Lion’ we removed the threat of elimination against our people.
It was a huge success.
And it also contributed greatly to European security.
If we Jews learned something from our painful history – when our enemies say that they want to eliminate us:
– We better believe them.
– And take measures to prevent them from carrying out their evil plans.
We remember – and we act.
This is our moral obligation. To our children and grandchildren.
But also – to the victims of the Holocaust.
***
Dear friends,
Chișinău was once a major center of Jewish life. But it suffered from severe antisemitism.
We will not forget the horrific pogroms of 1903 and 1905.
We will not forget those murdered in the Holocaust.
I thank you, Minister, that in the conference in Jerusalem you reaffirmed Moldova’s unwavering commitment to fight antisemitism.
I recall how you spoke of the horrors of children being butchered by Hamas – after seeing the video of the October 7th atrocities.
And I thank you for standing by Israel and calling for the release of our hostages still cruelly held by Hamas.
I appreciate Moldova’s commitment to combating antisemitism and safeguarding the memory and lessons of the Holocaust.
The obligation of Europe, on who’s soil the Holocaust occurred, is to fight the alarming rise of antisemitism since October 7th – with unwavering determination.
And yes – it is also to support the one and only Jewish state.
We remember the victims that were forced into Ghettos and murdered – only because they had nobody to defend them.
We will safeguard always the right of the Jewish people to defend themselves, to defend our nation, by ourselves.
We will honor our sacred oath:
Never Again!
May this be in the blessed memory of Rivkah and Reizel – sisters of my late grandfather David, a native of Chișinău – that lost their lives because they had nobody to protect them.
Thank you!”
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