Kate Middleton’s second engagement of the year is an observance of Holocaust Memorial Day. She joined her husband Prince William in London today at a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, a Nazi death camp.
Before the ceremony, the Prince and Princess met with Holocaust survivors, including Stephen Frank and Yvonne Bernstein. “It was such a treat for me to come and see an old friend,” she said.
In 2020, Kate photographed Frank and Bernstein with their grandchildren. “Whilst I have been lucky enough to meet two of the now very few survivors, I recognize not everyone in the future will be able to hear these stories first hand,’’ Kate said at the time. “It is vital that their memories are preserved and passed on to future generations, so that what they went through will never be forgotten.’’ The portraits were later on display at the Imperial War Museum. In 2020, on the 75th anniversary, the Prince and Princess of Wales also attended the national ceremony.
Today’s ceremony is hosted by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, an organization of which King Charles is patron. “Holocaust Memorial Day is a moment for us all to pause, reflect, and remember the six million Jewish men, women, and children murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators, while also honouring the victims of more recent genocides including in Bosnia 30 years ago,” Olivia Marks-Woldman, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, said in a statement.
She continued, “It’s a day with the power to touch hearts and inspire change. The range of programming, including the national Ceremony, will bring the nation together and enable people of all backgrounds to learn invaluable lessons from the past – lessons that remind us of our shared responsibility to build a kinder, better future.”
“To be in Poland on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, as we commemorate eighty years since the liberation of Auschwitz, is both a sombre and indeed a sacred moment,” King Charles said while visiting Poland. He added, “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.”
