Sirens wail as Israel stands still for Holocaust remembrance

In this April 10, 2018 photo, Baruch Shub Holocaust survivor poses for a photo at his apartment in a senior citizens' home in Kfar Saba, Israel. While most of his fellow Jews were being killed or brutalized in Nazi death camps and ghettos, Shub and his friends were hiding out in the forests of the former Soviet Union, trying their best to undermine the Nazi war machine by derailing trains, burning bridges and sabotaging telephone and electricity lines.

In this April 10, 2018 photo, Baruch Shub Holocaust survivor poses for a photo at his apartment in a senior citizens' home in Kfar Saba, Israel. While most of his fellow Jews were being killed or brutalized in Nazi death camps and ghettos, Shub and his friends were hiding out in the forests of the former Soviet Union, trying their best to undermine the Nazi war machine by derailing trains, burning bridges and sabotaging telephone and electricity lines.   | Photo Credit: AP

A third of the world’s Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. Israel was established afterward in 1948 and hundreds of thousands of survivors fled there.

Israelis are standing still for a nationwide moment of silence in remembrance of the 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust.

A two-minute siren wailed across the country on Thursday for Israel’s annual Holocaust Remembrance Day, when Israelis pay respects to those systematically killed by Nazi Germany and its collaborators in World War Two.

Buses and cars halted on streets and highways as Israelis stepped out of their vehicles and stood with heads bowed.

The somber day is also marked by ceremonies and memorials at schools and community centers. Restaurants and cafes close, and TV and radio stations play Holocaust-themed programs.

A third of the world’s Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. Israel was established afterward in 1948 and hundreds of thousands of survivors fled there.