Merz in Israel: ‘We will keep the memory alive’

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz commemorated the six million Jews murdered during the Nazi dictatorship at the central memorial site of Yad Vashem in Jerusalem on Sunday, during his inaugural visit to Israel.

“We will keep alive the memory of the terrible crime of the Shoah committed by Germans against the Jewish people,” he wrote in the guest book.

“Here at Yad Vashem, Germany’s enduring historical responsibility is palpable: Germany must stand up for the existence and security of Israel. This is part of the unchanging core essence of our relationship, and will remain so forever.”

Yad Vashem is the largest Holocaust memorial in the world. It was founded in 1953 and serves as a place of remembrance, research, documentation and education about the Holocaust. Millions of documents about the Nazi genocide are archived there.