Israeli police publicly salute Holocaust survivors on Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 21, 2020. Photo: Israel Police.

The Israel Police held a special commemoration of Holocaust Remembrance Day on Tuesday by saluting outside the homes of elderly survivors.

Because of their advancing age, almost all Holocaust survivors in Israel are currently confined to their homes due to the coronavirus pandemic. Public ceremonies where survivors usually appear have also been canceled or moved online.

Israel’s Channel 13 reported that, as a result, the police deployed to around 180 housing complexes and nursing homes, where they stood and saluted when the annual two-minute air raid siren was sounded, bringing Israel to a halt in tribute to the victims of the Holocaust.

All over Israel, as the sirens wailed in remembrance of Yom HaSoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) and the country came to a standstill – Police officers stood in front of survivors homes and saluted them. pic.twitter.com/7rYNFuqNS6

— Dani Dayan (@AmbDaniDayan) April 21, 2020

The acting chief of the Israel Police, Motti Cohen, commented, “We are now in the midst of a global crisis event, and even today, Israeli society is being revealed in its fullest moral and ethical power.”

“Police and citizens of the State of Israel are reaching out to help anyone, wherever they are,” he said. “That is the secret of Israeli society in general and the Israel Police in particular.”

“The values ​​and heritage that we seek to instill as an organization are the personal commitment of every police officer to the continued existence of a strong and democratic State of Israel, and the preservation of the dignity of the human being because they are a human being,” he added.

“The memory of the Holocaust and the lessons learned from it illuminate the service of the Israel Police,” Cohen said. “We have the honor to be a pillar of the Jewish and democratic State of Israel that fulfills the vision of the ages, and ensures ‘never again.’”