Netanyahu and his wife with the Holocaust survivors
Netanyahu and his wife with the Holocaust survivorsAmos Ben-Gershom/GPO

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara on Tuesday met at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem with the Holocaust survivors who will light the torches at Wednesday evening's Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day ceremony at Yad Vashem.

Prime Minister Netanyahu and his wife listened to the stories of survival and heroism of Bela Eizenman, Shaul Lubovitz, Fanny Ben-Ami, Menachem Haberman, Sara Shapira and Yehuda Mimon, as well as the story of Zipora Granat, who will address the ceremony.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said, "Your stories are stories of awful tragedy and supreme heroism. You met with cold, suffering and tribulations and you overcame them. You triumphed. We triumphed. I will never forget this. My wife's family, her father's entire family, was wiped out.”

“In recent years, I have been in Hungary, in Budapest, at the memorial in Paris and in Thessaloniki. When we go there, to all of these places, we go in your names and I will tell you how we know that we won; you know how they looked at us? As a mighty power. We were dust there – and we return, and they look at us as a major power. It starts with the spirit," he added.

Sara Netanyahu told the survivors, “We want to wish all of you good health, many years, much tranquility, and joy from all your children and grandchildren. The stories of your heroism are inspiring.”

“When I listened to your stories, as children, it took me back to my aunts and uncles who were children at your ages, and none of them survived. My father survived because he was here in Zion. He came here before the war, and he learned that he had nobody left. His younger sister was ten when she perished so when you told about a sister, a brother, mother, I heard this about my father who did not manage to see anyone; in effect, this is the heroism. We thank you."