Kate hugs Holocaust survivors as King warns of 'dangerous re-emergence of antisemitism'
King Charles became the first serving British monarch to visit Auschwitz, where more than a million people - mainly Jews - were murdered at the hands of Nazi Germany.
Tuesday 28 January 2025 02:58, UK
The Princess of Wales hugged and held hands with Holocaust survivors at an official commemoration to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.
Kate and her husband the Prince of Wales said their attendance at the event at Guildhall in central London was "a great honour" on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
Meanwhile, the King warned of the "dangerous re-emergence of antisemitism" as he also met with Holocaust survivors during a visit to the Jewish Community Centre of Krakow - which he opened in 2008.
King Charles said Holocaust Memorial Day "is a moment when we recall the depths to which humanity can sink when evil is allowed to flourish".
The King then joined survivors and other dignitaries at Auschwitz, marking the first time that a serving British monarch has visited the concentration camp where more than a million people were murdered at the hands of the Nazi regime.
Before he laid a candle as the UK's representative at the ceremony in Poland, three Holocaust survivors shared their stories.
Tova Friedman explained her traumatic experiences left her feeling it was "normal" that "as a Jewish child they all had to die".
Janina Iwanska also said: "It is difficult to calculate all the people killed here."
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Survivors recount Auschwitz horrors
Kate, William and PM pay respects
At the memorial event at Guildhall in London, Kate told Olivia Marks-Woldman, the chief executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, the commemorations are "so important," and added: "It is great to be here today with my husband."
In a short speech, William said attending the event at Guildhall was "a great honour".
"I am honoured to join you today to mark Holocaust Memorial Day and to remember the millions murdered during the Holocaust and in subsequent genocides," he said.
"We also remember those survivors who have lived with scars, both mental and physical.
"Their bravery, in sharing with us the most harrowing moments of their lives, is extremely powerful and ensures that we never forget. I assure them we never will."
The prince also read an extract from the book Holocaust Heroes, which references the efforts made by his great-grandmother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, to help a Jewish family in need during the Second World War.
In his own speech at the Guildhall event, Sir Keir Starmer said the Holocaust was a "collective endeavour" by ordinary people "consumed by the hatred of difference".
The prime minister said: "As we remember, we must also act. Because we say never again, but where was never again in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur, or the acts of genocide against Yazidi?
"Today, we have to make those words mean more. So we will make Holocaust education a truly national endeavour."
Heightened security at London event shows lessons still to be learnt
Survivors lit candles and gave their own moving testimonies at the London commemorations of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides.
The London Youth Chamber Choir performed Even When He Is Silent - remembering six million lost Jewish voices.
The Prince of Wales spoke about remembering not only survivors but also recalled those who risked their own lives to protect those fleeing - which included his great-grandmother Alice who gave refuge to a Jewish widow and her children in Athens.
The message of the ceremony to the congregation and beyond at a time of growing fears over anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish sentiment - to light candles of their own and stand against prejudice and hatred.
Candles to light the darkness 'for a better future'.
But the heightened security ahead of and at the venue at a time of continuing conflict in the world tells us lessons are still to be learnt on this 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
'Remembering the evils of the past remains vital'
Speaking in Krakow earlier on Monday, the King said: "In a world that remains full of turmoil and strife, and has witnessed the dangerous re-emergence of antisemitism, there can be no more important message.
"As the number of Holocaust survivors regrettably diminishes with the passage of time, the responsibility of remembrance rests far heavier on our shoulders and on those of generations yet unborn.
"The act of remembering the evils of the past remains a vital task, and in so doing, we inform our present and shape our future.
"Here in Krakow, from the ashes of the Holocaust, the Jewish community has been reborn."
Read more:
Survivors mark liberation from Auschwitz 80 years ago
'My mother sacrificed herself for me'
The King went on to say there is "no greater symbol" of that rebirth than the centre he was speaking at.
"In a post-Holocaust world, projects such as this, this centre, is how we recover our faith in humanity," he said.
"They also show us there is much work still to be done," he said, adding that it's important not just to remember the past, "but to use it to inspire us to build a kinder and more compassionate world for future generations".
"This remains the sacred task of us all," he added.
Later, the King joined world leaders like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Auschwitz, as those who lived through the Holocaust shared their stories of survival.
King's poignant journey to Auschwitz a display of his lifelong commitment to Holocaust survivors
The King had a clear purpose as he made his first visit to Auschwitz.
Remembrance - but also the high cost of forgetting.
It was right at the heart of a speech he gave at a Jewish community centre in Krakow, which he opened in 2008; a reminder of his enduring work to champion religious tolerance and interfaith dialogue, ever mindful of what he can do with his global profile.
In the auditorium at Auschwitz, he was one of the most recognisable attendees. But as is so often the case with the Royal Family, his intention was to use his presence to draw even greater attention to those who really matter, the survivors.
The Holocaust Educational Trust described his attendance as elevating the event on a global stage, a signal to the world of its significance.
It was a display of his lifelong commitment to humanise and give a voice to those who 80 years ago were so savagely dehumanised at the hands of the Nazis.
'I remember watching children driven to their deaths'
Survivor Janina Iwanska said that while the camp was originally for political prisoners, in March 1942, "the operators of the camp started building gas chambers and the crematorium".
"It was no longer a POW camp, a Soviet camp - this is when the killing machine started its operation," she added.
"It is difficult to calculate all the people killed here."
Fellow survivor Tova Friedman also told those in attendance: "I remember as a five-year-old child watching from my hiding place as all my little friends were rounded up and driven to their deaths while the heartbreaking cries of their parents fell on deaf ears.
"After all the children were gone and the courtyard was empty - I thought 'am I the only Jewish child left in the world?'"
She recalled that while held in Auschwitz, she "was being beaten mercilessly by a guard for fidgeting" after "not being able to stand still for hours," as she looked into her mother's eyes.
"She was pleading with me 'don't cry'. And I didn't. At five I had the rebellion in me that I would not let them know the pain they are inflicting on me," Ms Friedman added.
More than a million people were murdered at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp during the Second World War, most of whom were Jews but also Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war and other nationalities.
Six million Jewish men, women and children died during the Holocaust.
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Commemorations at the former death camp began earlier when Poland's President Andrzej Duda joined Auschwitz survivors laying wreaths and candles at the site.
Their tributes were left at a reconstruction of the Death Wall, the site where several thousand people, mainly Polish political prisoners, were executed.
In a speech, Mr Duda said "we Poles are the guardians of memory today" and had a duty to maintain the life stories of the survivors.