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'Spirit of Warsaw Uprising built Israel'

PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle 19.04.2013 08:48
"The Spirit of the Ghetto Uprising built the State of Israel,” Israeli ambassador to Poland Zvi Rav-Ner said Thursday evening on the eve of the 70th Warsaw Ghetto Uprising anniversary.

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Israel Ambassador to Poland Zvi Rav-Ner (C) participates in "Azkarze for the memory" ceremony at the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes: photo - PAP / Leszek Szymanski

The ambassador was taking part in the 'Azkara for the Memory' ceremony at the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes in Warsaw before a concert by the Israeli Philharmonic.

Ambassador Zvi Rav-Ner said that 70 years ago, as Jewish Ghetto inhabitants rose up against the German Nazi occupiers, Jewish insurgents would not hear classical music but "the music of German bullets, screams and beatings."

As Jews fought a heroic battle against the Germans – lasting from 19 April to 16 May 1943 - the uprising in the ghetto influenced the shape of Jewish identity after the war.

"Israel was built on that base, on those rocks," the ambassador said.

“This was not only a military struggle, but also a spiritual one," Poland's Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich said.

Around 13,000 Jews were killed in the ghetto during the uprising and the remaining 50,000 residents were mostly captured and transported to concentration and extermination camps such as Treblinka.

Ceremonies will be taking place throughout Friday in memory of those who fought and died in the uprising.

The general public will also be allowed to take a look around the new Museum of the History of Polish Jews, though the museum will have its official opening next year. (pg)

source: PAP

Be sure to tune in to a special edition of our News from Poland magazine on Friday, 14.00 CET, where we devote the whole programme to the 70th anniversary of the Jewish Ghetto Uprising and the opening of Warsaw's Museum of the History of Polish Jews. Click the 'listen live' on the home page and then click 'External'.

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