IDF soldiers, commanders, and IDF employees,
Today, on Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day, before the sirens sound across the country, we will all gather – as one nation and one army – and commemorate the memory of the six million of our people who perished in the Holocaust at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators. “The world knew that there were still Jews alive…”, promised Tuvia Bielski, one of the leaders of the renowned partisan group.
Amidst the cries of children, the wails of mothers, and the echoes of gunfire and terror, Bielski’s words and the promise of all the partisans resonated in many hearts and became a symbol of hope and courage; they expressed that tenacious human spirit – a spirit that refuses to bow its head, refuses to surrender to the horrors of the Nazi oppressor, and chooses to cling to life even from the deepest of brokenness.
We will remember the communities wiped off the face of the earth; the voices of children, men, and women, the elderly and the young, who were led to the crematoria and shot into mass graves; and the partisans and underground fighters who struggled and rebelled even when all hope seemed lost. We will remember the acts of valor, the defiance, and the uprisings; the preservation of Jewish identity even in the face of attempts to erase it; the final embrace and the farewell words – seared into memory and transformed into a living testament.
From the ashes, the loss, and the devastation, a clear cry arose: to be a free people in our land. Holocaust survivors yearned for a state – they rose and built it with their bare hands, and with deep faith. Since its establishment, the State of Israel has faced a real existential threat – confronting cruel enemies who seek to undermine our resilience, break our spirit, and destroy our people.
On October 7th, our wicked enemies attacked the State of Israel and attempted to realize this threat in practice. Since then, for over two years, the IDF has been operating tirelessly in a fateful campaign to remove existential threats, to inflict significant damage on our enemies, and to fortify the security of the State of Israel.
Drawing from the lessons of Jewish history which teach that when our existence is threatened, we must take our fate into our own hands – the IDF has acted with determination and strength against Iran and its proxies, waged a fierce war, and acted against those who have called for decades to destroy our state and erase it from the Middle East. This is a multi-arena and unprecedented war, whose acts of heroism will be etched in the annals of the State of Israel.
We carry with us the memory of the brave and the noble who fell while defending the homeland, and we are committed to standing by their families and by those wounded in body and soul on their path to recovery.
Today, from the harshest inferno, the Jewish people stand alive, free, and sovereign in their land – this is our clear answer to the world; no longer a people dependent on the mercy of others, no longer a people without protection – but a free people in their land who fight for their freedom and their future.
My soldiers, we who wear the IDF uniform, carry a heritage passed down through generations – a heritage of a spirit that refuses to be broken, of a people who chose life and freedom even in their darkest hours. Now it is our turn to be a vital link in the chain of defenders who stood before us; to stand guard over the homeland, to protect our homes, and to ensure that the memory of the past serves as our compass – and that never again.
May the memory of the fallen be blessed.
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