Siege of LeningradJERUSALEM, Jan 27Diplomats of the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Belarus and representatives of the Israeli Foreign Ministry and Israeli public organizations held a ceremony and laid wreaths at the Candle of Memory memorial in Jerusalem on the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust and the Lifting of the Siege of Leningrad, RIA Novosti correspondent reports. monument, which symbolizes the feat of the inhabitants of the defenders of Leningrad, and the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. This day is respected and celebrated in both countries, we associate it with the liberation of the Auschwitz camp by Soviet troops and salvation from the complete annihilation of European Jews and other peoples. And on the same day a year earlier, the blockade of Leningrad was completely lifted, a counteroffensive took place, which ultimately led to the great Victory, which put an end to the inhuman experiments of the Nazis on people,» Russian Ambassador Anatoly Viktorov told reporters present at the ceremony. The ceremony took place at the monument to the heroes of besieged Leningrad, open downtown Jerusalem and on January 23, 2020, in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The height of the stele is 9 meters, its weight is 12 tons. The monument rests on a base weighing 6 tons. This is one of the largest memorials erected in Israel. The artistic solution is based on the image of a candle, on which the bronze inscription «Remember the living and the fallen, who trampled down death by death» is engraved. At the foot of the monument there is a slab with the words: «Leningrad was under blockade at the sight of the Nazis for 900 days and nights. The city survived. About two million civilians and defenders of Leningrad died.» In Israel, events are also held on this day in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. In the evening, photographic portraits of 400 surviving prisoners of the camps and ghettos, made by Italian photographer Luigi Toscano, were broadcast on the walls of the old city of Jerusalem. The action was held under the motto «We remember». The day before, the Yad Vashem Memorial Center held a virtual event, sharing personal stories of Holocaust victims and ghetto prisoners, showing personal belongings to diplomats who participated in the video conference.15:37 «This is a place of both pain and pride.» Ceremony in memory of the defenders of Leningrad» Holocaust Remembrance Day is a special day, we fully share his grief, we remember him so that this never happens again. We remember those heroes of the anti-Hitler forces of all directions, underground fighters, ghetto resistance, partisans, of course , about the soldiers of the Red Army, which made a decisive contribution to the victory. And I am extremely grateful to Israel — the leadership, people, public organizations, institutions, memorial complexes for what they are doing to perpetuate the memory of the victims of Nazism,» the Russian ambassador emphasized. despite unfavorable weather conditions, the temperature was extremely low for a Middle Eastern winter — snow fell in Jerusalem on Thursday night, roads were blocked. International Holocaust Remembrance Day is celebrated on January 27th. On this day in 1945, the Red Army liberated the Auschwitz death camp. «Auschwitz-Birkenau» was the largest Nazi extermination camp, so it became one of the main symbols of the Holocaust. About 1.4 million people, of which about 1.1 million were Jews, died at Auschwitz in 1941-1945. In 1947, a museum was created on the site of the former Nazi concentration camp. In 1979, it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
