Members of the IDF General Staff Forum held a seminar on Monday to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. They were joined by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir.
Danny Dayan, chairman of Yad Vashem–The World Holocaust Remembrance Center, opened the seminar, followed by a lecture from Rabbi Tamir Granot, head of the Orot Shaul yeshiva in Tel Aviv.
Granot, whose son was killed by a Hezbollah missile on Oct. 15, 2023, spoke of the ability “to rise from the depths of pain and loss and to hold on to life, growth and rehabilitation.”
Later, the commanders held a meeting and talk with Holocaust survivor Lea Balint, presenting her with a certificate as part of the “A Flower for a Survivor” project, in the presence of Limor Livnat, chairwoman of the Foundation for the Welfare of Holocaust Victims.
Balint, née Alterman, survived the war hidden in a Franciscan convent in Poland.
Lea had been smuggled out of the Ostrowiec ghetto with her mother, Adela, and went into hiding with a Polish family. Lea was then sent to the nunnery. Her mother was killed after her hiding place was revealed by a former non-Jewish friend of the father.
Following the war, she arrived in Haifa with her father, Moshe, at age 12.
After the meeting, participants toured Yad Vashem and visited the “Book of Names” exhibit, which focused on the value of hope as a source of resilience during and after the Holocaust.
The General Staff also participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at Yad Vashem’s Hall of Names.
IDF Chief of Staff Zamir said the Holocaust was an attempt to destroy the Jewish people but “from the ashes and destruction, the State of Israel arose, and out of it grew the IDF—the protective army of the Jewish people.”
The IDF, he said, “is the guardian of revival, expressing hope and enabling growth. It is a strong, moral and powerful army—defensively and offensively.”
It is the “decisive answer to the horrors of the Holocaust,” he continued. “No longer a defenseless people, we will continue to fight and defend the State of Israel, the Jewish people, and future generations. May the memory of those who perished be blessed,” he said.
