Israelis stand still along the Ben Yahuda pedestrian walkway in Jerusalem as a wail of memorial sirens brings Israel to a standstill for two minutes to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day in Jerusalem yesterday. Israel marked the annual memorial day commemorating the six million Jews killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust during World War II. - Reuters

JERUSALEM (AP):

On Israel's annual Holocaust memorial day yesterday, Michal Beer slowly read the names of dozens of relatives murdered in the Nazi death camps, pausing at times to choke back tears.

As Israel's aging population of Holocaust survivors rapidly diminishes, the country's main Holocaust memorial is racing to document victims' memories. The 78-year-old survivor of the Terezin concentration camp is one of many who have been crucial to that effort.

"Soon, I will no longer be around. We really are the last ones," she said.

Israel marked the day with a moment of silence to honour the memory of the six million who were killed in the Holocaust more than 60 years ago while also focusing attention on the plight of survivors.

A two-minute siren at 10 a.m. (0700 GMT) brought life across the nation to a standstill. Pedestrians froze in their tracks, buses stopped on busy streets, and cars on major highways pulled over.

All day, television stations broadcast historical documentaries and movies, and radio stations played sombre music and interviews with survivors. Schools held memorial services, places of entertainment were shut down and the Israeli flag was flown at half mast.