A Holocaust survivor gave a speech in Hebrew at the United Nations General Assembly session to commemorate the Holocaust Remembrance Day for the first time in history on Tuesday.
Sara Weinstein (91) told her Holocaust survival story alongside her daughters and granddaughters on stage at the UN's General Assembly, starting with an introduction in English before proceeding to tell her story in Hebrew.
"For the first time, a testimony was heard here in Hebrew. Silence in the face of anti-Semitism is a moral failure," said UN ambassador Danny Danon.
Born in Poland, Weinstein talked about her life before the Second World War, her parents and siblings, her grandmother, and her house by the river. She also described how nothing beyond fading memories of the time remains. "I don't remember my mother's face nor my grandmother," she said.
Weinstein also told the story about how she was smuggled out of the Jewish ghetto by a non-Jewish Ukrainian family.
"Every Ukrainian knew that if you helped the Jews, you would end up dead," she explained, and told how her family was found out when other villagers noticed that the Ukrainian family protecting them was buying more food than they needed.
According to Weinstein, the villagers discovered the house where they were hiding, shot and killed the non-Jewish owners, then her family, and burned the house down. She was saved by her mother, who lay on top of her and shielded her from the bullets.
She then recounted how, after escaping, she lived in a nearby forest with her father and her two sisters, the only survivors of the family. "On the day the war ended, my father was murdered by villagers. My sisters and I were left alone," she said.
After being transferred around through several orphanages, Weinstein arrived at a Kibbutz in Israel, where she established her home. She got married, had children, grandchildren, and eventually great-grandchildren.
"The Holocaust didn't start with the gas chambers; it started with words, incitement, propaganda, jokes, accusations, and indifference. And today, I see it again, antisemitism rising its head, Jews being attacked while the world is silent," she concluded.
Ambassador Danny Danon's words at UNGA's Holocaust Remembrance ceremony
Danon also spoke at the UNGA's ceremony, where he asserted: "We remember the six million, but today memory is not enough. While we stand here, Jews are being attacked, and hatred is spreading. 'Never again' cannot remain a slogan. It must become action. Now."
"When anti-Semitic lies are told in the halls of the UN, they receive an official stamp and turn into violence in the streets. This is not freedom of expression, this is anti-Semitism," he added.
The ambassador also paid tribute to the IDF soldiers: "IDF soldiers today defend with their bodies the right of the Jewish people to live without fear."