President Napolitano during the memorial ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance
President Napolitano studies an exhibit in the Holocaust History Museum of objects taken from the Jews in Trieste before their deportation to the concentration camps
President Napolitano and his wife in the Hall of Names, accompanied by President of the State of Israel Shimon Peres and Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev, guided by Yad Vashem Researcher Dr. Iael Nidam-Orvieto
President Napolitano signs the Visitors’ Book outside the Children’s Memorial
25 November 2008
The President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, recently visited Yad Vashem. Along with his wife, he was accompanied by Israeli President Shimon Peres, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, and Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev.
President Napolitano visited the Holocaust History Museum, including the Hall of Names, participated in a memorial ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance, and toured the Children’s Memorial. Upon exiting the Children’s Memorial, President Napolitano wrote the following in the Visitors’ Book:
"If you could rate the tragedy, you would have to say that the most tragic and most horrible of all was the murder of the children. If this violent rage had a purpose, it expressed the desire to wipe out the nation and the future of the Jewish people. The plan failed. Yet here is the testimony of the steep price that was paid.""If you could rate the tragedy, you would have to say that the most tragic and most horrible of all was the murder of the children. If this violent rage had a purpose, it expressed the desire to wipe out the nation and the future of the Jewish people. The plan failed. Yet here is the testimony of the steep price that was paid."
