(15 Mar 2005) SHOTLIST
1. Israeli President Moshe Katsav and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan walking
2. Annan and Katsav shake hands
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary-General:
"And of course, as an organisation, the Holocaust and World War II is really very much part of our history."
4. Wide of Katsav and Annan
STORYLINE
Dozens of world leaders have gathered in Jerusalem for the dedication of a new museum at Israel's Holocaust memorial, aimed at giving a personal tint to the incomprehensible numbers - six (M) million Jews murdered by Nazis and their collaborators during World War II.
Inaugural ceremonies on Tuesday and Wednesday will be attended by many world dignitaries, including UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Annan met Israeli President Moshe Katsav late on Monday and told him the Holocaust was "very much part of" the history of the United Nations.
The 56 (M) million US dollars museum - which tells the story of the Nazi murder of six (m) million Jews through a Jewish perspective - took 10 years to build.
Its creators said that Yad Vashem's old museum, opened in 1973 and a fourth the size of the new one, was unable to respond to growing interest in the Holocaust.
A number of Holocaust museums have been built in recent years far more elaborate than Yad Vashem and many Israelis long felt their memorial was in need of a facelift.
The work was funded mostly by private donors, but also by the Israeli government and the Conference of Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Security for the opening ceremonies will be tight, with hundreds of police and volunteers deployed.
Jerusalem's bomb squad will conduct numerous sweeps and major thoroughfares will be closed to traffic.
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