YOM HASHOAH - MARCH OF THE LIVING/update
Never say that there is only death for you
Though leaden clouds may be concealing skies of blue -
Because the hour that we have hungered for is near;
Beneath our tread the earth shall tremble:
We are here!
From land of palm-tree to the far-off land of snow
We shall be coming with our torment and our woe,
And everywhere our blood has sunk into the earth
Shall our bravery, our vigor blossom forth!
We'll have the morning sun to set our day aglow,
And all our yesterdays shall vanish with the foe,
And if the time is long before the sun appears,
Then let this song go like a signal through the years.
This song is written with blood and not with pencil lead
it's no song sung freely by birds flying overhead.
So a people among the falling walls made their last stand
and this song they sung with pistols in their hand
Never once say you walk upon your final way
though skies of steel obscure the blue of day.
Our long awaited hour will draw near
and our footsteps will thunder -
We are Here!
The text of the speech by the IDF Chief of the General Staff for the ‘March of the Living’ is found here. Heart of the matter:
I stand here today, in this heartbreaking spot, as the commander of the army of the Jewish Nation. In the name of the Israel Defense Forces I salute the six million Jews who were annihilated by the Nazis and their collaborators. I vow to uphold the responsibility of the Israel Defense Forces - never again to allow Jewish blood to be spilled in vain. May the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust be forever blessed and remembered.