PM pays respects at Holocaust memorial

 PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill planted an olive tree to mark his visit to Israel’s Memorial of the Holocaust in Jerusalem yesterday. 

The planting ceremony was performed at the Grove of Nations near the memorial as O’Neill and the PNG delegation moved into the second, and final day, of his state visit.

The memorial commemorates the events that unfolded in Nazi concentration camps in World War II.

O’Neill said it had been a dark and sorrowful time for the Jews after he laid a wreath to extend Papua New Guinea’s sincere condolences to the six million Jewish men, women and children who died in the Holocaust. 

“It is saddening and shocking to gather what kind of cruelty and inhumane experiences these innocent Jews had to go through,” O’Neill said.

Before laying the wreath he also added some fuel to the eternal flame signifying that those who passed on during that horrific era would forever be remembered.

Planting an olive tree which symbolises peace, humanity and goodness is routine after walking through the memorial.

Other world leaders have also planted trees and O’Neill was the 65th leader of a country to do so.