Israel comes to standstill to commemorate Holocaust victims

Israel came to halt to the sound of sirens on Thursday morning to commemorate the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust.

At 10 a.m. (0700 GMT), as the two-minute sirens pierced the air, people across the country stood in solemn silence in honour of the six million Jewish victims of the Nazis during World War II.

On streets and highways, traffic stopped with many drivers stepping out of their vehicles, standing still in contemplation.

Pedestrians halted their steps and stood in silence.

People in many homes, business places and offices stopped their activities and stood still, commemorating the victims of the Nazi genocide.

The annual ritual is part of a series of memorial activities on the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day – an official day to honour Jews who died in the hands of Nazi Germany and its collaborators in World War II.

The head of Germany’s parliament arrived in Israel on Wednesday to participate in a series of events to mark the national Holocaust Remembrance day.

Bundestag President Barbel Bas was welcomed at an official ceremony in the Knesset, during which she said, “The lessons of the Holocaust oblige us to give no place to antisemitism. Germany’s responsibility hasn’t ended. We stand alongside Israel.”

“I bow my head humbly at the inconceivable suffering of the victims of the crimes against humanity committed by the Germans,” she added.