Israel marks annual Holocaust remembrance day
Thousands walk from Auschwitz to Birkenau in Poland's March of the Living
Israel is marking its annual Holocaust remembrance day, in memory of the six million Jews killed by Nazi Germany and its collaborators.
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Ceremonies are held around the country on the solemn day, which is marked from Wednesday evening.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended the main ceremony at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.
Ceremonies were held around the country beginning Wednesday evening, including a main ceremony at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended.
Israelis came to a mournful, two-minute standstill Thursday morning to remember the dead.
As sirens wailed throughout the country, pedestrians stopped in their tracks and motorists pulled over on highways and roads and stood next to their cars.
Names of those killed were read in a ceremony at Israel's parliament.
March of the Living
In Poland, thousands of people from around the world, many draped in Israeli flags, have paid homage to the victims of the Holocaust with a sombre march from the barracks of Auschwitz to nearby Birkenau.
Organizers of the March of the Living, held annually on Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day, said about 10,000 participated in the event Thursday in southern Poland, occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II.
Among them were about 150 Holocaust survivors, Israel's justice minister, Knesset members and people from 42 countries.
As participants arrived at the gates of Birkenau, some knelt to pray and light candles on the railway tracks that carried Jews, Roma and others from across Europe to their death in gas chambers. Birkenau is where most of the death camp complex's victims were killed.