“We greatly appreciate all those who risked their lives to save Jews, but there were other phenomena as well. People who murdered and inherited. This was a terrain that allowed the Nazis to do whatever they liked not only in Poland but throughout Europe”

"I know that there is public opinion and that there is sometimes a desire to please it and sometimes to change laws with that aim, but in this case we are all waiting for your court's view in the hope that this cloud will disappear."

President Reuven Rivlin this morning, (Thursday), arrived in the city of Krakow in Poland in order to take part in the March of the Living. On his arrival, the President expressed his appreciation to the heads of Israel’s security services, IDF Chief of Staff, the Chief of Police, and the heads of the Mossad and ISA, and all the members of the delegation from the President’s Office together with the organizations taking part in the March of the Living.

The President then went on to hold a working meeting with Polsh President Andrzej Duda. Following their meeting President Rivlin said, “Today, 75 years since the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and 70 years since the founding of the State of Israel, I have arrived here to march together with you Mr. President, together with survivors of the Holocaust, together with the heads of Israel’s security services, in the March of the Living. This land was a creative home for the soul of the Jewish people, and to our great sorrow, also the largest Jewish graveyard. One cannot erase such a rich history, such a broad history, such a painful history.”

He continued, “Israel is following from afar the academic and political debate in Poland on the issue of remembrance and responsibility. We appreciate the internal examination, and for the soul-searching of Polish society. Yet, there is also great disagreement about which we have spoken. Especially because of the special Jewish connection to Poland, we demand that Poland continue to be committed to comprehensive and unrestricted research on the events of the Holocaust period. As was agreed between the two counties, and as is appropriate. Policymakers have a duty to shape the future. Historians have a duty to describe the past and investigate history. One must not overstep into the field of the other.”

The President went on to stress, “If there was to be another issue more important than researching the past, it would be the shaping of the future, and the shaping of the future is in education. Cooperation between Israel, Poland, and the Jewish people on remembrance and memorial, in education and research is the way to pass the torch of remembrance and responsibility to the next generations. It is important that Jews and Israelis will know all the aspects of the Jewish history in Poland. It is important Poles, young and old, will know and learn about what happened here in the days of the Second World War. I greatly appreciate the cooperation between the Polish Government and the national museum at Auschwitz with the March of the Living, and I hope that we will find the right path to continue to intertwine remembrance, research, and education, for the benefit of future generations.”

President Duda welcomed the President and said, “Our meeting today is a great honor, but also of course a testimony to the enormity of the disaster that happened here. We are meeting here for the March of the Living as a testimony to memory of the Jewish Holocaust. We say to the world – especially from here, the place where the terrible disaster was carried out – we say Never Again. We call on the whole world to see where hatred of the other and anti-Semitism can lead. This is a cry for the whole world to remember that all human kind must relate with respect to one another and that Never Again. I am very thankful to President Rivlin for agreeing to come to the free Poland, and to this terrible place, this place of testimony. I am grateful to the President for his invitation to march alongside him today. This is important to me as a leader and as an individual. This is one of the most tragic events in our history.”

He continued, “So many Jews over the years dedicated their lives to Poland and its independence and their graves are scattered across Poland, not because they were murdered but because they fought for Poland’s independence. Three million Jews were murdered in Poland in the Holocaust, and want to say today that we will never forget them. The testimony of their lives is so important to us as an important element of remembrance. There is nothing more important than memory. Mr. President, I want to reiterate – there is great disagreement on the issue of amending the law which was passed in the Polish Parliament, which is being examined by the courts, but I want to clarify that at no point did we want to block testimony, on the contrary we wanted to defend the historical truths, and as a leader, I want to do this at any price, even when it is difficult for us.”

He added, “I am not scared to say that there were people whose behaviour should be condemned, but there were also people of whose behaviour we are proud. There were authorities that tried to defend the Jews, but their leaders were condemned to death. We are not seeking to block testimony, not even the difficult testimony. Mr. President, I think that our marching together here will make clear for the whole world that we mean Never Again. I am certain that we will continue to partner and cooperate in all fields, and especially with regard to security, and I believe that that in building a strong Poland, we can use the experience of the State of Israel and develop our cooperation in a way that will help the youth.”

In their meeting, the two Presidents spoke at length about the state of the relations between the two countries in the light of the recent Polish legislation. President Rivlin stressed to his Polish counterpart, “The relationship of the Jewish people with Poland is a thousand years old. Every Jew felt a connection to Poland as a place where Judaism flourished. Today the bilateral relations between Israel and Poland are excellent. However, not only because it is Holocaust Heroes' and Martyrs' Remembrance Day, I must tell you that a great shadow clouded our relations, even if at the bilateral level we understand each other."

The President went on to say, “You must understand the sensitivity of the Jewish people in Israel. We see the Holocaust as a result of anti-Semitism which led to the slaughter of the Jewish people, out of the Nazi ideology which flourished on Polish soil.” He added, “We greatly appreciate all those who risked their lives to save Jews, but there were other phenomena as well, people who murdered and inherited. This was a terrain that allowed the Nazis to do whatever they liked not only in Poland but throughout Europe.”

The President reiterated and stressed, “Leaders of nations need to care for the future, those who decide what happened in the past are the historians and the researchers, not the laws passed by the leaders. Europe’s history is far from easy, and today we see the phenomenon of racism and anti-Semitism, and all the people of the free world who oppose anti-Semitism see this as very worrying indeed.”

He added, “When we say ‘never again’, we know what we must do, and that every nation must do their own soul-searching. We are ready to research the past together, but the truth will not change because of this or that law. I know that there is public opinion and that there is sometimes a desire to please it and sometimes to change laws with that aim, but in this case we are all waiting for your court's view in the hope that this cloud will disappear.”

The President stressed, “For us in Israel, Poland is the cradle of a culture that blossomed, and at the same time, a place of destruction for the Jewish people. True, the Germans wanted to hurt us, but they also had helpers. We agree on many things, but the Holocaust Law creates a serious crisis. I had to tell you these things. We do not interfere with the legislation of other countries, but I could not help but convey to you the feelings of the entire Jewish people.”

“Polish soil enabled the execution of Hitler's horrific ideology of genocide and saw the waves of anti-Semitism that the law created. We live today as a free people in our own country, but the anti-Semitic feeling in Poland and throughout Europe is raising its head and Holocaust denial is actually a statement that tries to say the Holocaust was justified.”

The President concluded, “The bilateral relations between us can lead to cooperation in any field, but this law can make people think that you are not prepared to deal with your past in the Holocaust. It is not for nothing that we call the extermination camps the extermination camps of the Nazis and their collaborators. There is no doubt that there were many Poles who fought the Nazi regime, but we cannot deny that Poland and Poles had a hand in the extermination.”