Official Ceremony to Commemorate VE Day Today at Yad Vashem
With Participation of Minister of Defense Ehud Barak

(May 11, 2008) Today, May 11, 2008, Yad Vashem will hold the official ceremony marking the 63rd anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany. The ceremony will take place with the participation of Minister of Defense Ehud Barak.

Hundreds of Jewish World War II veterans of the Allied armies, the majority from the former Soviet Union, will attend the ceremony, along with Jewish partisans, wounded soldiers from the war against the Nazis, underground fighters, volunteers from the Yishuv who fought in the British forces and veterans of the Jewish Brigade, as well as Ambassadors and military attachés - totaling some 1,000 people.

Speakers:
Joseph (Tommy) Lapid, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council
Roman Yagel, President of the Association of Wounded Soldiers and Partisans who Fought the Nazis
Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak

Minister Barak will lay the Government of Israel wreath in memory of those who fell in the struggle against the Nazis. Other wreaths will be laid by representatives of the IDF and the Jerusalem Municipality, ambassadors and military attachés of the Allied countries, as well as representatives of fighters and partisan organizations. The Israeli Police Orchestra will perform at the ceremony with soloists, conducted by Sergeant Major Michael Gurevitch and singer Yevgeni Shapovalov. The event will be moderated by Amikam Gurevitch.

The ceremony will take place at 16:00 at the Memorial to the Jewish Soldiers and Partisans at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.

The event is open to the press.

The ceremony is being organized with the participation of the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, and partisan and veteran organizations.