All language subtitles for h.u.s03e06.1080p.web.h264-cbfm_track3_[eng]

PHILIPPE SOLLIER (NARRATES):
History is not an exact science.

It is never set in stone.

As time passes,
knowledge of the past is refined,

and evolves.

But by definition,
existing ideas have thick skins,

and are hard to shift.

To understand the realities
of the world,

you sometimes have to shake them up,

and decipher the facts
by looking at them another way.

Posterity has made the creation

of Israel a direct consequence
of the holocaust.

And yet.

May the 8th 1945,
Germany lay under the rubble,

crushed by the magnitude
of its crimes.

Auschwitz, Birkenau,
Sobibor, Treblinka,

the list of atrocities committed
was immense.

6 million Jews
were brutally exterminated.

The survivors
of this tragedy endured.

They lived through the deportations,
the death marches.

They lost everything
and had nowhere to go.

Their fate
depended on the great victors

of the conflict.

But in the immediate
post-war period,

providing the Jewish people
a homeland

was not the priority.

At the time,

the Allies were overwhelmed
by countless challenges.

The most urgent task

was to re-establish lines
of communication,

to manage the masses
of German prisoners, and, above all,

to repatriate
the tens of millions of people

displaced by the conflict.

The logistics worked wonders.

Within a few months, deportees,

resistance fighters,
forced labourers,

civilians who had fled the fighting,

and demobilised soldiers
found their home.

Others were not so lucky.

In the autumn of 1945,

nearly 70,000 survivors
of the Holocaust

were still waiting for the world

to find a solution
to their predicament.

Gathered in displaced person camps,

they came from Poland,
Ukraine and Hungary

and refused to return
to these bloody lands

that were the site
of so many massacres.

Many sought to emigrate
to rebuild their lives.

But lands of asylum were scarce,

and even Palestine,
the cradle of their ancestors,

refused to open its arms to them.

And for good reason,

the English
who governed the territory

were opposed to their coming.

The reason?

As a strategic crossroads,

Palestine was the heart
of the British Empire

in the Middle East.

Just a stone's throw
from the Suez Canal,

Haifa was where the pipeline

that transported
precious Iraqi oil ended.

And in Iraq,
as in Transjordan and Egypt,

there were monarchs
that London wanted to protect.

Their influence
in the region depended on it.

Thus, after encouraging
Jewish immigration,

the British promised the Arabs
to limit visas to 1,250 per month.

Present on the territory
since time immemorial,

the Palestinians,
both Christian and Muslim,

regarded the Jews as invaders,
settlers.

For them, the tragic fate
of the Holocaust survivors

could not serve as a pretext
for the invasion of their country.

(UPBEAT MUSIC)

On the other hand,

for the 500,000 Jews
already settled in Palestine,

the mass arrival
of Holocaust survivors

was of paramount importance.

Entrepreneurs and builders,

since the arrival
of the first pioneers,

they continued to prosper.

Their farms,
the so-called 'kibbutz,'

created against all odds
from the desert,

increased in number.

Within just a few years,

the city of Tel Aviv
became a modern metropolis

with 200,000 inhabitants.

Zionists from the outset,
they aspired to found a state,

as vast as in the days
of Kings David and Solomon.

In other words,
although they were in the minority,

they laid claim
to the whole of Palestine.

However, this goal came up
against a major problem,

there were twice
as many Arabs as Jews,

and the extermination
of the Jews in Europe

deprived them
of the main source of emigrants

on which they were counting,
to force out their population.

So,
as long as the British restricted

the conditions of immigration,

their state project
was doomed to fail.

One man rejected this inevitability,
David Ben-Gurion.

At the head of the Jewish Agency,
a kind of embryonic government,

his whole life was focused
on a single goal, a single idea,

a single passion,
to give his people a state,

so that the Jews would finally have
a land of their own.

On the 16th of October 1945,
during a visit to Germany,

the representative of the Jews
of Palestine took action.

(SINGING)

That it was Jewish people
who made Palestine,

that was Palestine
who made the Jewish people.

There's no other people in the world
who made Palestine.

(APPLAUSE)

He was a pragmatist,

and he knew that the survivors
were a tool for the Zionist course,

and he was ready to do anything
to populate his future state.

Quickly, the displaced persons camps

were transformed
into recruitment centres.

To prepare the prospective recruits,

Zionist militants give
Hebrew lessons to the youngest.

All lessons in History
and Geography.

The adults were introduced
to the rudiments of agriculture.

For all, the learning
of folk songs and dances

forged a community
with a common destiny.

As the weeks went by,

the number of volunteers
for the Promised Land grew.

But they still needed visas.

Ben-Gurion hoped to obtain them.

(SPEAKS HEBREW)

In the spring of 1946,

the old leader mobilised
international opinion.

The objective was to criticise
the inflexibility of the English.

No less than 100,000 visas
were required

for all those Jews
wishing to immigrate.

All the networks
of the Jewish world were mobilised,

in Europe and especially
in the United States,

Britain's most faithful ally.

The Zionist message was clear,

the British migration policy
must be fought.

With a Jewish community
of 5 million people,

the American Zionist movement
was the most powerful,

active and wealthy in the world.

Like Ben-Gurion,

its supporters fought ardently
for the creation of a Hebrew state,

following the example
of Nahum Goldman,

one of the founders
of the World Jewish Congress.

If there would have been
a Jewish state in Palestine

when Hitler appeared to the horizon
and came to power,

this state in a country
would have opened its gates

to all the Jewish who want to come.

(APPLAUSE)

But however strong the argument,

State rationale had no use
for such considerations.

For Secretary of State,
George Marshall,

supporting the Zionists meant
risking the United States' access

to oil in the Middle East.

Moreover,
in this immediate post-war period

when communism was on the rise,

he didn't want to alienate
his British allies.

President Harry Truman
was undecided.

He was a fervent Christian,

and his compassion for the Jews
was sincere.

More than any other head of state,

he was sensitive to the tragedy
of the Holocaust.

Despite the reluctance
of his advisers,

he declared himself in favour
of the 100,000 visas

demanded by Ben-Gurion.

Stung by this,
the English reacted without delay.

Ruined by the war,

the country was struggling
to recover.

A former major world power,

England was living with restrictions
and shortages.

The country had no money left
and survived,

thanks only to the financial help
of the United States.

Despite this dependence,
Ernest Bevin,

the Minister of Foreign Affairs,

did not want his migration policy
to be challenged.

Outraged by the interference,
he curtly replied to Truman

that he should welcome the survivors
in the United States himself.

Very quickly, the divergence
between the two countries

spread around the chancelleries.

Nikolai Novikov, a Soviet diplomat,
alerted the Kremlin.

The US request to allow
100,000 Jews into Palestine,

could undermine
US-British relations.

Joseph Stalin seized this chance.

The opportunity
was too good to miss,

so, he took advantage of it.

Aggravating the dispute
between the two countries

could destabilise England

and open the doors
to the Middle East,

a region from which the Soviet Union
had always been excluded.

He was a cunning man,
and advanced his pawns.

Overnight, Moscow allowed
Jews from countries occupied

by the Red Army
to cross the borders.

In Poland, Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia and Romania,

a human river began to flow.

In a hurry to flee the anti-Semitism

that continued to rage
in these countries,

thousands of families
placed themselves

under the protection of the Allies.

Their destination, Germany
and its displaced persons camps.

Very quickly, the British
and the Americans were overwhelmed

by the number of refugees.

David Wahl,
an American Zionist, rejoiced.

The Soviet government increased
the number of displaced persons

from 70,000 to 250,000.

This population is invaluable

for increasing Jewish immigration
to Palestine.

Meanwhile, all over Europe,

illegal immigration networks
were multiplying.

Hundreds of Jews, in a hurry
to reach the Promised Land,

set out on their adventure.

In the Balkans,
people smugglers sent by Ben-Gurion

were there to guide them.

An exhausting journey,
through trails and mountain roads,

before reaching the small
and inconspicuous port

of the Mediterranean.

Crowded into makeshift vessels,
despite the deplorable conditions,

the immigrants savoured
the end of their wanderings,

and the dawn of a new life.

It was a short-lived reprieve.

In most cases, as they approached
the Palestinian coast,

they were arrested
by the Royal Navy.

British soldiers,
whose feet I would have kissed

because they had liberated me
in Germany,

were making their way
onto our boat with clubs.

Prisoners of the British,

the passengers were then taken
under guard

to a camp in Atlit near Haifa.

For them, the promise of paradise
turned into hell.

London remained indifferent,
and Ernest Bevin warned...

"The Jews of Europe
should not over-emphasise

"their racial situation.

"If they try to elbow their way in,
they cannot be surprised

"if there is a resurgence
of antisemitism across Europe."

It was the spark
that set the world alight.

(GROOVY MUSIC)

The Jews of Palestine were appalled
and began to rebel.

Yesterday's peaceful civilians
were transformed into fighters.

In hiding,
they tried their hand with weapons.

The time for submission had passed.

It was now time to show

that Jews would no longer bow
to the dictates of the English.

After a number of explosions
caused by terrorists,

fire broke out in the oil zone.

Rough estimates already
put the costs at

over a quarter a million pounds.

Smoke rising from a street
in Jerusalem

indicates yet another vain attempt
by the Jewish terrorist gang

to intimidate authority.

(SPEAKS FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

In the summer of 1946,
a wave of unprecedented attacks

was directed against
British national interests.

Oil infrastructure,
military facilities,

communication routes,
everything was blown up.

On July the 22nd,
a new threshold was crossed.

In Jerusalem,
a group of guerrilla fighters

struck the headquarters
of the British administration.

The British mandate in Palestine
was hit in the heart.

In the rubble
of the King David Hotel,

there were 91 dead
and more than 40 injured.

In total, nearly 250
of Her Majesty's soldiers

lost their lives that summer.

Their reaction was merciless.

Street by street, house by house,

the real or presumed culprits
were hunted down.

More than 3,000 sympathisers
were imprisoned.

The hard core
of the Zionist movement

was broken.

At the docks meanwhile,

the drama of the illegal immigrant
ships continues.

The question of immigration,

is the immediate cause
for the conflict in Palestine.

Faced with the incessant flow
of stowaways,

the British redoubled
their severity.

For the unfortunate ones
who undertook the crossing,

the contact with the Promised Land

was limited to a few minutes
on the dock.

Transferred to prison ships
in undignified conditions,

they were deported to Cyprus,

where a huge detention camp
had recently been built

especially for them.

After having escaped
the horror of the Nazi camps,

they found themselves once again
behind barbed wire,

surrounded by watchtowers
and armed guards.

(NOISE)

By locking up Jews
after all they had suffered,

Great Britain proved
how determined it was not to yield.

To break the deadlock, Ben-Gurion
then played his trump card.

In order to make the Zionist project
more acceptable,

he gave up the idea
of claiming the whole of Palestine,

and claimed only a part of it...

leaving the option for Arabs wishing
to emancipate themselves

to create their state
on the rest of the land.

The manoeuvre did not go unnoticed.

On behalf of the Arab community,
Jamal Husayni protested.

For the last thirty years,

alien immigrants have been forced
upon us.

Now, these immigrants,
though still in minority,

want to have a Jewish state
in our country,

in which we would
become the minority.

The Americans welcomed
this concession.

On October 4th, 1946,
for the first time,

Harry Truman spoke out
in favour of a Jewish state

on a portion
of Palestinian territory.

For England,
it was a stab in the back.

Abandoned by the Americans,
under pressure from the Arabs,

in the grip of Zionist terrorism,

its control over Palestine
became an impossible mission.

Especially
since the Palestinian stalemate

had bad press.

It had involved
over 100,000 soldiers

even though the war had been over
for two years.

And it swallowed up
considerable sums of money,

a luxury that the Crown
could no longer afford.

On the 17th of February 1947,
during a session in the Commons,

Bevin threw in the towel.

With a heavy heart,

he announced that he would have
to take the matter

to the fledgling United Nations.

The Arabs of Palestine
had lost their protector.

(UPBEAT MUSIC)

In Moscow, Stalin was jubilant.

The refugee situation
had delivered on its potential,

the Anglo-American front
had been broken,

the British mandate
was on its last legs,

and thanks to the support
of its sister countries,

the USSR was in a strong position

to influence the debates
at the United Nations.

Stalin's plan to gain a foothold
in the Middle East was taking shape.

Two months later, in New York,

the representatives
of some 50 countries took the stage.

Now that you are all very diligent?

On the agenda
of this extraordinary session,

finding a political solution
to the conflict

that was tearing Palestine apart,
while satisfying both communities.

Two communities
that did not start on equal terms.

On the Zionist side,

two talented lieutenants
of Ben Gurion,

Abba Eban who spoke English
with a Cambridge accent,

and Moshe Sharett,
a brilliant orator.

These two men had an advantage.

The Zionist movement
had already rallied

most democratic countries
to its course.

On the other hand, Jamal Husayni,

in the name
of the Arab High Committee,

was alone defending
the interests of the Palestinians.

The big question was the position
of the Soviet Union.

Everyone was wondering.

Moscow had always fought
Zionist ideology.

Its supporters were systematically
sent to Gulags,

or even assassinated,

but Stalin was no stranger
to contradiction.

On the 14th of May, 1947,
Andrei Gromyko, his delegate,

ended the suspense.

To everyone's surprise,

the USSR declared itself in favour
of the existence of a Hebrew state.

Abba Eban was stunned.

This was a tremendous opportunity
for us.

In an instant, all our predictions
and calculations

about the outcome of the discussion
at the United Nations

were turned upside down.

Things looked grim
for the Arab world,

but the game was not yet lost.

In order to reach a compromise,
a commission of enquiry was formed.

It was headed by Emil Sandstrom,
a Swedish diplomat.

Its mission,
to travel through Palestine,

to hear from both sides
and find a solution

for Jerusalem and the holy sites.

I want to thank you,

gentlemen, for the confidence
you have shown me.

It's certainly a very difficult task
that has fallen upon me.

And that with joint efforts,

we should be
able to achieve the mission

which has been given to us.

That summer, Emil Sandstrom,
along with 11 delegates,

arrived in the Holy Land
under a blazing sun.

Apart from a few prominent people,

the Arab leaders refused
to cooperate.

Palestine was their land,

there was no need
to state the obvious.

Boycotted, the members
of the commission

were denied contact
with the population.

They simply walked
through the villages

and observed the destitution.

The Jews, on the other hand,
gave them an enthusiastic welcome.

Ben-Gurion did everything possible
to dazzle his visitors.

Songs, dances, nothing was excluded.

It became a real propaganda tour.

In the spotlight,
Zionism's finest achievements...

its nascent industry...

its prosperous
agricultural settlements...

its efficient school system.

However, between two shows
and a visit to a kibbutz,

the commission witnessed
the omnipresence

of the British repressive apparatus.

There was barbed wire,

checkpoints and roadblocks
everywhere.

The Guatemalan delegate
described it as a real police state.

Taking advantage of the presence
of the United Nations Commission,

the Jewish Agency had organised
an operation

that would make
a lasting impression.

On the 12th of July 1947,

an old steamer renamed 'Exodus'
set sail in the Mediterranean.

On board were 4,500
Holocaust survivors,

led by militants ready to fight.

For Ben-Gurion,
the objective was not to bring

illegal immigrants into the country,

but to exploit
their subsequent deportation.

It was a calculation
that would pay off.

Off Gaza,
the ship was spotted by the British.

Soldiers boarded the ship
and a fight broke out.

The result was 3 dead and 28 injured
among the passengers.

The battered Exodus
was towed to the port of Haifa.

Emil Sandstorm and his colleagues
were alerted

and witnessed a revolting spectacle
at first hand.

They watched as the passengers
were transferred to prison ships,

before being taken back to Germany,

the country of their tormentors.

The images that circulated the world
shook the conscience of the West.

Back in New York,

the commission delivered
its conclusions.

The recommendations,
end the British mandate...

divide Palestine
into two independent states,

one Jewish, the other Arab,
and make Jerusalem,

the thrice holy city,
an international zone.

In an instant, the skies
over the Arab world darkened.

Transjordan, Egypt, Syria and Iraq

threatened military intervention
if the partition was approved.

From Cairo to Baghdad,
from Amman to Damascus,

the streets were ablaze
with demands for war.

In Palestine,
militias were being organised...

weapons were being brought out
of storage.

The possibility of an uprising
in the Arab world

was on everyone's mind.

A godsend for Stalin,

who banked on this turmoil
to destabilise the region.

In Washington,
mistrust was the order of the day.

George Marshall was worried.

The Middle East had been
a zone of containment of communism

and the unexpected rapprochement
between Zionists and Soviets

risked bringing it
under the influence of Moscow.

On the Zionist side,

the battle for influence
was intensifying.

All over the country,
marches, parades

and demonstrations
were on the increase,

under the direction
of Rabbi Abba Silver,

one of the leaders
of this mobilisation.

Palestine is the land of Israel,

it's the historical home
of the Jewish people,

where it produced the Bible.

Harry Truman was harassed
day and night.

He wrote,
"The leading Zionist leaders

"were exerting all kinds of pressure
on me to use power

"in the service
of their aspirations.

"I have never been the object

"of such a virulent
propaganda campaign."

The United States delegation?

On the 11th of October 1947,
America officially announced

that it would support the partition
of Palestine into two states.

In the wake of this,

the nations of the free world
followed suit.

Delighted to put a nail

in the coffin
of the British mandate,

the USSR, followed by
its sister countries,

also rallied to the partition.

When suddenly,
a few days before the vote,

the Zionist delegation realised

that it was still a few votes
short of winning.

Fearful of giving the Communists
the upper hand,

the United States
was quick to show that it

too had the power
to shift the balance.

American diplomats and businessmen
were immediately called in.

Mr Firestone,
a giant of the tyre industry,

was asked to co-operate.

The industrialist was threatened.

"If you don't, we will boycott you

"and your rubber plantations
will rot on the spot,

"to the great misfortune
of Liberia."

Mr Firestone took it upon himself
to convince the Liberian leaders.

Similar pressures were also applied
to the Philippines and Haiti.

Poor countries,
dependent on Washington's subsidies,

they were rallied
by the dollar diplomacy,

to the support of their benefactor.

On the 29th of November 1947,

Palestine had a rendezvous
with its destiny.

We will proceed the roll call.

Argentina, abstention,

Australia, yes, France,

yes, Ukraine, yes,

Soviet Union, yes,

United Kingdom, abstention,

United States, yes.

In a few minutes, the future
of the territory was decided.

The Resolution
of the Ad Hoc Committee

for Palestine was adopted
by 33 votes,

13 against 10 abstentions.

(UPBEAT MUSIC)

When the result was announced,
the Jews rejoiced.

After 2,000 years of waiting,
they had reached their goal.

In a few months,
their state would come into being.

David Ben-Gurion, however,
was less optimistic.

He wrote in his diary,
"Today they dance,

"tomorrow they will cry
tears of blood."

On the Arab side,

an immense feeling
of injustice prevailed.

Amin al-Husseini, a high Palestinian
dignitary, proclaimed,

"We will fight...we will fight
against the division of the country.

"We will not accept any compromise."

Jerusalem, erupted into unrest.

A protest turned into a riot.

Jewish businesses were vandalised.

7 Jews were killed that day.

Thousands of Palestinians
took to the streets.

Jewish settlements were attacked.

Soon, isolated shootings
evolved into full-scale gunfights.

Despite his daily yoga sessions,
David Ben-Gurion remained anxious.

Certainly, Moscow's support
paved the way for a Hebrew state,

but its survival
was already under threat.

The Arab states
were preparing to attack

as soon as the last
British soldier had left.

They had tanks and planes.

Ben-Gurion had none.

His modest army equipped
for guerrilla warfare

would not be able to cope.

He needed weapons, and quickly.

Once again,
Stalin offered him a lifeline.

Ehud Avriel, the best Mossad agent,
flew to Czechoslovakia.

With an economy in a sorry state,
a stark lack of currency,

and under pressure from the Kremlin,

the country proved to be
a first-class supplier.

Arriving in Prague, Ehud Avriel
was received like a prince.

The Czechs offered
to get him a real arsenal,

starting with a stock
of Mauser rifles,

a good part of which, ironically,
had been confiscated from the Nazis.

Better still, the surplus
of the Skoda arms factory

was made available.

It was a woman who was in charge

of finding the funds
for the project,

Golda Meir, a close friend
of Ben-Gurion.

The only potential donors
were the 5 million American Jews

who were already contributing a lot,

but she was able to find the words
to inspire them to donate.

Jews who are fighting in Palestine,
the state of Israel,

are fighting for the only thing
that they have in their possession.

It is life and death to them.

And I am here to ask
the Jews of United States

that as long as they give us
the aid that we require,

in a very short time,

the state of Israel will be
a state in peace.

For two months,
she scoured the United States.

From Los Angeles to San Francisco,
from New York to Chicago,

meetings, galas and raffles
followed one another,

and the money flowed freely.

The result,
instead of the expected amount,

she collected twice as much.

$50 million that went directly
to Czechoslovakia.

The arms were crated in Prague,
transited through Hungary,

and then loaded onto cargo ships
in Yugoslavia,

three democracies that had bowed
to the Kremlin's demands.

On the 3rd of April 1948,

the first shipment of weapons
arrived in Palestine,

buried under a mountain of onions.

Ben-Gurion's army seized them.

They would completely change
the situation.

On the 14th of May 1948,
after three decades of domination,

the last of the British forces
quietly left Palestine.

Freed from their burden,

Her Majesty's soldiers bowed out,
visibly relieved.

In a hurry to leave,

the official commentator
didn't linger.

The Union Jack was hauled down

and the doors closed for good
on the British mandate.

The British mandate in Palestine
had come to an end.

At 4pm on the 14thof May 1948,

David Ben-Gurion proclaimed
the birth of the Jewish state.

(APPLAUSE)

However, he failed to acknowledge
the decisive role

the Soviets played in its creation.

The next day, at dawn,

Arab forces swept into the territory
of the newborn state.

A merciless battle began,

but thanks to the weapons
supplied by the Czechs,

the Israeli army
was ready to sustain the shock.

It now had the equipment needed

to defend its borders
and repel attackers.

As the troops advanced,
Arab villages were taken one by one.

Fleeing the combat, many villages
were already deserted.

Those who remained were driven out
by violence or intimidation.

Then it was the turn
of the big cities, in Haifa,

Jaffa and Lod,
the Arabs were expelled.

Forced to abandon their homes,

several hundred thousand
Palestinian men,

women and children went into exile.

At the same time, the survivors
who'd been languishing in camps

arrived en masse
in their new country.

The first were the prisoners
in Cyprus.

For them, the dream
of the promised land

was finally fulfilled.

As soon as they stepped off
the boat,

they became Israeli citizens.

Men of fighting age
immediately joined the army.

Many had tattoos
on their forearms...

but the new Jewish state
had no interest

in their painful past.

After a few days of training,

they were sent to the battlefront
to defend their new homeland.

During this conflict,

one out of three Israeli casualties
was a holocaust survivor.

However, the young Hebrew state
won this war outright.

It even extended its territory
beyond the borders set by the UN.

The towns of Nazareth and Acre,

which the partition plan
had assigned to the Arabs,

were annexed.

It was a military victory
and a demographic one.

The 750,000 dispossessed Arabs,

who were crammed into camps in Gaza
and the West Bank, never returned.

Their right to return
was discussed at the UN,

but Israel refused to receive them,
supported by Moscow,

which always stood by them
and imposed its veto.

Ben-Gurion wrote to Stalin,

"Our people will never forget
the help given by the USSR,

"nor its loyal support
for Israel in its struggle

"for independence
in its historic home."

But the honeymoon between
the two countries was not to last.

The enthusiasm
of Soviet Jews for Israel

quickly upset the Kremlin.

Stalin saw it as a threat

which could turn them away
from the communist ideal

which was the foundation
of the motherland.

Appointed ambassador to Moscow,

Golda Meir witnessed
the deterioration of this alliance,

which would gradually
come to an end.

She said...

"From January 1949,

"Russian Jews paid dearly
for their betrayal.

"Five months later,

"there was not a single
Jewish organisation left in Russia."

No Soviet Jew would be allowed
to emigrate to Israel.

But, so, what?

From the first year of its creation,

nearly 300,000 Jews
from all over Europe

flocked to the country.

Among them were almost all those

who had lived in the displaced
persons camps.

With raw memories of the genocide,

they would keep silent
about their sufferings

in order to integrate
with the native Israelis,

who would remain deaf
to their tragedies.

A Warsaw Ghetto survivor confessed,

What separates us are oceans
of thought and experience.

They could not understand us,

they didn't speak our language,
the language of the survivors.

Thus, for a long time,

the Holocaust remained a matter
for the survivors alone.

Since then, time has passed.

The Holocaust is now
at the heart of Israeli identity.

It has become a national issue.

Once a year, on Remembrance Day,
everything stops.

In memory of its martyrs,

the country is frozen in silence
and contemplation.

(APPLAUSE)

For some years now,

female survivors have been honoured
in a beauty contest.

In celebration of life,

the title of Miss Holocaust Survivor
is awarded to the winner.

The tragedy of the European Jews,

now so strongly legitimises
the existence of the Jewish state

that the world has forgotten
that its creation was above all

the result of the cynical game
of the great powers.

In reality, the ashes of Auschwitz

did not weigh heavily
on the birth of Israel.

Captioned by Ai-Media
ai-media.tv