In pictures: Holocaust remembrance

Millions of people across Israel have been marking the country's annual memorial day for six million Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust.

At 1000 (0800 GMT), the country came to a standstill for two minutes as memorial sirens wailed. Traffic came to a stop and people stood beside their vehicles, many with heads bowed.

Memorial events began the night before, at Israel's national Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem. Here, a Holocaust survivor lights a flame, marking the beginning of official ceremonies.

Israeli President Shimon Peres was among dignitaries there. In a speech, he compared the danger of the Nazis to that which Israel says it faces from Iran's nuclear programme.

There are about 250,000 Holocaust survivors in Israel today. Speakers at Yad Vashem repeatedly referred to the importance of Israel's army in preventing such a catastrophe from happening again.

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