(Communicated by the President’s Spokesperson)President Reuven Rivlin this morning (Thursday 22 October 2015), visited the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp, accompanied by President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman. During the visit, the Presidents attended the official military memorial ceremony and laid a wreath before the national anthems of both Israel and the Czech Republic were played and the 'El Maleh Rachamim' memorial prayer was recited. At the end of the ceremony the President said the 'Kaddish' prayer in memory of the victims.
President Rivlin went on to the Maple Wood Memorial for the children of Terezin. A tree was planted in secret by the camp's children during the Tu B'Shvat holiday in 1943, and a ceremony held by the children in the yard near their hut. Sadly a flood that hit the memorial site in 2002 which damaged the maple tree, and only cuttings taken from it remained, as well as the tree trunk which was placed as a memorial near the Jewish cemetery and crematorium. Helga Ošková-Weissová, aged 86, one of the children who planted the tree in 1943, was invited to take part in planting a new tree with the President. The President embraced her warmly and told her he was moved from by the occasion, and was very proud, as President, to plant the new tree with seedling cuttings from the original tree.
After President Rivlin planted the tree alongside Helga, he said, "There is nothing more symbolic than a tree that has survived and has continued to commemorate the life that went on and emerged from the dust. I am moved, but moreover tremendously proud to stand here beside you, as a Jew first and foremost, and as the President of the State of Israel, at the spot where the greatest human tragedy for the Jews took place. The growth that has emerged here is the growth of a nation, its victory against all odds, and also the promise that we will continue, and continue to grow, that we will continue to stand up to anyone who would seek to disrupt our ability to live in peace and security."
At the end of the ceremony, the President said, "We are in the most pastoral environment in nature where horrendous crimes were committed. When we say 'never again', we know what we need to do today to never allow another Holocaust from taking place. It was from here in Theresienstadt that the worse propaganda of the Nazi beast emanated. From here came an attempt to create terrible lies, as if the Nazis were as beneficiaries to the Jewish people, as if they took care of all of humanity, as if they put their hearts into educating children and enable culture. It was from here in this place of horror that terrible lies fostered and we will not allow the world to give in to such a reality once again. We learned the lesson; we learnt it and continue learning it."
The President went on to say, "Our biggest victory as a people lies in such visits as these, the third visit of President of Israel, a sovereign and democratic state, in this land. We are here once again and the Nazis are not."
Helga Ošková-Weissová was born in 1929 and was sent to Theresienstadt in December 1941 with her family. She was then deported with her mother to Auschwitz in October 1944. Helga survived the Holocaust and established her home in the Czech Republic.
President Reuven Rivlin was received the day before (Wednesday 21 October 2015) at an official ceremony marking the beginning of his State Visit to the Czech Republic at the Presidential Palace in Prague.
The President and his wife Ms. Nehama Rivlin were received by Czech President Milos Zeman and his wife, Ivana Zemanova. The official delegation stood together for the national anthems, before the two presidents went on to review a guard of honor. Following the ceremony President Rivlin held a working meeting with Czech President Zeman, which lasted an hour, after which they both gave statements to the media.
President Rivlin thanked President Zeman for his warm hospitality and for the Czech Republic's support of Israel, and said, "It is an honor to be celebrating 25 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries and honoring a very long history of close friendship between our people."
The President went on to say, "I want to thank you, the Czech people, for your support during difficult periods experienced by Israel. Even today, when Israel finds itself all too often attacked in the international arena, the staunch and clear moral stance of the Czech Republic against the use of violence, terrorism or unilateral Palestinian moves stands out. You have stood tall in your assistance of the defense of Israel by both your words and by your actions. The State of Israel appreciates the good relations that exist between the Jewish community and the general public in the Czech Republic, and we are aware of the real actions taken against the new anti-Semitism."
The Czech President thanked President Rivlin and said, "I am very pleased to welcome you here in Prague. The most important fact to the deepening of the relations between the two countries is the common history that we share."
The Czech President addressed the bilateral cooperation between the countries and said, "I am pleased we have reached an agreement on the strengthening and further development of trade between the two countries. I am pleased that together with President Rivlin, many businessmen from Israel have joined this visit, with whom I will meet as well. We agreed that in light of the fact that Israel is a technological giant, our deepening cooperation will predominantly be in the fields of innovative technologies. The Czech Republic can offer good investments in technology, biotechnology, and in other fields. I am also happy to see our cooperation in the field of tourism between our two peoples."
The Czech President stressed the two countries' struggle against the threat of fundamentalism and said, "Our two countries are making a great effort to stand up to the threat of fundamentalism, which Israel faces directly. We are currently facing a clear projection of extremism – which has manifested itself as a civil war."
At the end of a statements, the two Presidents answered questions from the journalists who were present.
President Rivlin was asked to refer to the statement made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the previous evening regarding the meeting between Hitler and the Mufti of Jerusalem, and replied, "I am not proficient in the details noted by the Prime Minister last night. Because I would like to get this right, I will go to the sources and see the details there. There never was, and never shall be, a person who caused such a human tragedy as Hitler did, and the worst chapter in the Jewish tragedy." The President went on to emphasize, "I would like to add, and emphasize that Israel was not established as a compensation for the Holocaust. The fact is that my family immigrated in 1809 because they thought the Land of Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people and we must live in our homeland."
The President was then asked by the Czech media about the security situation in Israel, and in Jerusalem in particular. He said, "Jerusalem is united and is the capital of Israel, and these are the facts. Jerusalem is a microcosm of our ability to live together. We believe that we, Jews and Arabs, are destined to live together and not that we are doomed to live together. To understand this you must rebuild trust."
The President noted in particular the religious tensions on the Temple Mount, and said, "Israel has not declared war on Islam. Israel is prepared to give every believer the ability to pray according to their own faith. The agreement of the status quo on the Temple Mount was signed and we maintain it. We maintain it, word for word and letter and letter, as signed between Rabin and King Hussein. There is no intention or desire to change that."
In addition he noted, "The impact of the Islamic State in the region at the moment, can be seen in the desire to turn the conflict into a religious war. We maintain the agreement carefully and I regret the attempts to exploit the situation in order to declare war on every Israeli citizen. We are all together in this situation, we do not differentiate on the streets of Israel, who is a Jews or who is a Muslim."
President Rivlin reiterated, "Unfortunately every initiative we seek to raise to bring a resumption of talks is rejected by the Palestinians. Prime Minister Netanyahu called for a renewal of negotiations - despite difficult disagreements - which Israel is prepared to renew. But the other side needs to be a partner for negotiations. We do not agree and will never agree to preconditions to negotiations."
The Czech President was asked by an Israeli reporter about the recent statement by the Czech Foreign Minister, who said it would become more difficult to continue to support Israel, and whether this was indicative of the erosion in relations.
"There is no change in our policy," said the Czech President, "The proof is in a joint cabinet meeting of the two countries. There is no other country we have joint meetings with."
The Czech President was also asked by the Czech media about collaborating with Israel in the fight against the Islamic State. He replied that the Czech Republic had observers on the Golan Heights and representatives in the Sinai Peninsula, and said he would be happy if within international forums Israel would support a UN proposal to establish an international unit focused on the fight against terrorism. He also stressed that he believes that the Security Council and the permanent members should to be more active in this fight.