Israel values Soviet army's role in WWII, liberation of Europe's Jews - Israeli FM
MOSCOW. May 8 (Interfax) - Israel is grateful to the peoples of the Soviet Union and the Red Army for their contribution to the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, Israel Foreign Minister Israel Katz said.
"Israel is grateful to the Red Army and the peoples of the USSR for their historic contribution to the victory over Nazi Germany and the liberation of the Jews of Europe," Katz said in an interview with Interfax.
In January this year, the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Israeli hosted a ceremony dedicated to the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, the minister. Russian President Vladimir Putin attended this event along with the leaders of other countries. The participants in the ceremony stressed the historic role of the Soviet army in WWII and the liberation of prisoners of concentration camps, he said.
"The events of the Holocaust carry special importance for me personally and my family. My mother was deported to Auschwitz when she was a teenager. She was saved thanks to the Red Army, and after the defeat of Hitler's Germany, she was repatriated to Israel and started a family here," Katz said.
A decision on who will represent Israel at events in Moscow dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War will be made after a new format and a new date of these events are set, he said.