Obama calls Holocaust memorial 'a place of hope'

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JERUSALEM — Barack Obama on Wednesday pronounced Israel's memorial to the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust "a place of hope" and a potent reminder of humankind's ability to "rise up from tragedy and remake our world."

Obama was in Israel and the Palestinian territories on a whirlwind, 30-hour trip, where he made the acquaintance of a string of leaders, visited a rocket-scarred southern Israeli town and was to tour Judaism's holiest site, the Western Wall.

At the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, he donned a white Jewish skullcap, placed a wreath of white chrysanthemums and lisianthus at the Hall of Remembrance and lit a memorial flame.

The dark, imposing hall in a concrete, tent-shaped building is dominated by a black floor with plaques naming the Nazi death camps where millions died during World War II. Visiting dignitaries, like Obama, routinely visit the site and lay a wreath in the hall.

"Despite this record of monumental tragedy, this ultimately is a place of hope, because it reminds us of our obligations and responsibilities hopefully to raise a better future for our children and our grandchildren," he said.

Later, he wrote in the visitors book that "at a time of great peril and torment, war and strife, we are blessed to have such a powerful reminder of man's potential for great evil, but also our capacity to rise up from tragedy and remake our world."

Obama spent several minutes writing in the book as his bodyguards grew fidgety in the hot sun.

He commented on the importance of Holocaust education and said he would bring his young daughters to the memorial on his next visit to Israel.

About 250,000 elderly survivors of the Holocaust live in Israel.

American tourists who passed by Obama at Yad Vashem urged him to "remember what you see here," the memorial's director, Avner Shalev, recounted. Obama replied, "Yes, I understand, I understand," Shalev said.

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