Train stands at end of train tracks at Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum
Train stands at end of train tracks at Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museumFlash 90

46 heads of states, members of royalty, presidents, prime ministers and parliamentary leaders from Europe, North America and Australia will attend the Fifth World Holocauste Forum, entitled “Remembering the Holocaust, Fighting Antisemitism” (please find below the list of confirmed leaders of nations and heads of delegations).

The Fifth World Holocaust Forum, organized by the World Holocaust Forum Foundation, in cooperation with Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, will take place on 23 January 2020 at Warsaw Ghetto Square in Yad Vashem, Jerusalem. Marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, and International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Forum will begin at 13:30.

“This is an unprecedented and historic event, the highest-level meeting ever held in Israel and on the issue of antisemitism,” Dr. Kantor, initiator of the event, said. “We must use this event as a crucial and defining moment to build a global coalition of leaders who will send a strong and united message that antisemitism, in all of its forms, will not be tolerated and those who perpetrate it will be met with zero tolerance.”

Forum Program:

The event will open at 13:30 with an address by President of the State of Israel H.E. Mr. Reuven "Ruvi" Rivlin. Additional speakers include: Prime Minister of the State of Israel H.E. Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, Vice President of the United States of America H.E. Mr. Michael R. Pence (awaiting official confirmation), President of the Russian Federation H.E. Mr. Vladimir Putin, President of France H.E. Mr. Emmanuel Macron,The Prince of Wales HRH Prince Charles, and President of Germany H.E. Mr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Holocaust survivor and Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council Rabbi Israel Meir Lau as well as Forum organizers – President of the World Holocaust Forum Foundation Dr. Moshe Kantor and Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev – will also speak at the event. Interspersed throughout the proceedings will be several short video clips and musical interludes performed by an international orchestra, conducted by world-renowned conductor Vladimir Spivakov and accompanied by an international choir.

At approximately 15:10, the Memorial Ceremony segment will begin. Holocaust survivors Rose Moskowitz from the United States and Colette Avital, Chairperson of the Center Organization of Holocaust Survivors in Israel will light a memorial torch, after which heads of delegations will commemorate the victims of the Holocaust by laying wreaths at the foot of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Monument in Warsaw Ghetto Square at Yad Vashem. Cantor Shai Abramson will recite the El Maleh Rahamim memorial prayer, followed by Holocaust survivor Naftali Deutsch who will say Kaddish, the mourner's prayer. The ceremony will conclude with a moment of silence and Israel's national anthem, Hatikvah.

Confirmed Leaders of Nations and Heads of Delegations:
(As of 15 January 2020)

President of Albania H.E. Mr. Ilir Meta
President of Armenia H.E. Mr. Armen Sarkissian
Governor-General of Australia The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd)
Federal President of Austria H.E. Mr. Alexander Van der Bellen
Chairman of the House of Representatives of Belarus H.E. Mr. Vladimir Andreichenko
King of Belgium His Majesty King Phillipe
Chairman of Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina H.E. Mr. Željko Komšić
President of Bulgaria H.E. Mr. Rumen Radev
Governor-General of Canada the Right Honourable Ms. Julie Payette
President of Croatia H.E. Ms. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović
President of Cyprus H.E. Mr. Nicos Anastasiades
Prime Minister of the Czech Republic H.E. Mr. Andrej Babiš
Prime Minister of Denmark H.E. Ms. Mette Frederiksen
President of European Council H.E. Mr. Charles Michel
President of the European Commission H.E. Ms. Ursula von der Leyen
President of the European Parliament H.E. Mr. David Sassoli
President of Finland H.E. Mr. Sauli Niinistö
President of France H.E. Mr. Emmanuel Macron
President of Georgia H.E. Ms. Salome Zourabichvili
President of Germany H.E. Mr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier
President of the Hellenic Republic H.E. Mr. Prokopios Pavlopoulos
Representative of the Holy See His Eminence Cardinal Kurt Koch
President of Hungary H.E. Mr. János Áder
President of Iceland H.E. Mr. Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson
President of Italy H.E. Mr. Sergio Mattarella
Speaker of the Saeima of Latvia H.E. Ms. Ināra Mūrniece
President of Lithuania H.E. Mr. Gitanas Nauseda
Grand Duke of Luxembourg HRH Henri
President of Moldova H.E. Mr. Igor Dodon
Minister of State of Monaco H.E. Mr. Serge Telle
President of Montenegro H.E. Mr. Milo Đjukanović
King of the Netherlands His Royal Majesty Willem-Alexander
President of North Macedonia H.E. Prof. Dr. Stevo Pendarovski
Crown Prince of Norway HRH Crown Prince Haakon
President of Portugal H.E. Prof. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa
President of Romania H.E. Mr. Klaus Iohannis
President of the Russian Federation H.E. Mr. Vladimir Putin
President of Serbia H.E. Mr. Aleksandar Vučić
President of Slovakia H.E. Ms. Zuzana Čaputová
President of Slovenia H.E. Mr. Borut Pahor
King of Spain His Majesty King Felipe VI
Prime Minister of Sweden H.E. Mr. Stefan Löfven
President of Ukraine H.E. Mr. Volodymyr Zelenskyy
The Prince of Wales HRH Prince Charles, United Kingdom
Vice President of the United States of America H.E. Mr. Michael R. Pence*
Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States of America Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi*

*Awaiting official confirmation