Israeli PM Netanyahu Opens Exhibit in Auschwitz; Says Israel Is Bound to Prevent Another Holocaust

In a defiant speech from the place that symbolizes the suffering of Jews during World War II, Israel's prime minister warned today (June 13, 2013) that the Jewish state of Israel will do everything to prevent another Holocaust and to defend itself against any threat, according to the Associated Press website.

Benjamin Netanyahu spoke during the inauguration of a new pavilion at the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz that is to educate visitors about the Holocaust and the Nazis' quest to exterminate Jews. Auschwitz -- with adjacent Birkenau -- was the most notorious in a system of death camps that Nazi Germany built and operated in occupied Poland during World War II.

"From here, the place that attests to the desire to destroy us, I, the prime minister of Israel, the state of the Jewish people, say to all nations of the world: The state of Israel will do whatever is necessary to prevent another Holocaust," Netanyahu said, as he stood in front of the red-brick former prisoner block that houses the new exhibition.

"We must not be complacent in the face of threats of annihilation. We must not bury our heads in the sand or allow others to do the work for us," he said, in what appeared to be a reference to Iran and its nuclear program.