THE Prince and Princess of Wales will attend a special event marking 80 years since the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp was liberated.
Kate and Wills will take part in a national service of remembrance to mark Holocaust Memorial Day today.
Princess Kate previously held back tears when she attended an emotional ceremony on Holocaust Memorial Day in Westminster in 2020[/caption]
Survivors with wreaths during a ceremony at the Death Wall during the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp today[/caption]
The royals will be joined by survivors also the Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur genocides.
They will meet with survivors from the Holocaust to hear their harrowing personal stories.
Wills is due to deliver a reading and light a candle alongside young representatives from the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and other partner organisations.
The candles act as a symbol to remember all those who lost their lives in the Holocaust and other genocides.
Princess Kate previously held back tears when she attended an emotional ceremony on Holocaust Memorial Day in Westminster in 2020.
William and Kate joined invited guests and dignitaries including Boris Johnson, actress Nina Wadia and actor Martin Shaw.
Holocaust memorial day takes place every year on January 27, remembering the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The day honours survivors of the Holocaust, Nazi Persecution, and subsequent genocides in Bosnia, Cambodia, Rwanda and Darfur.
Kate appeared visibly moved as she teared up during the ceremony.
It comes as King Charles will become the first British head of state to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau when he toured the former Nazi concentration camp to mark the 80th anniversary today.
The King, 75, was joined by foreign monarchs, presidents, prime ministers and Holocaust survivors.
They attended a service held at the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum and memorial.
During a recent Buckingham Palace reception ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day, the Monarch said: “I feel I must go for the 80th anniversary, (it’s) so important.”
Auschwitz-Birkenau. was liberated by soldiers of the 60th Army of the First Ukrainian Front who opened the gates on January 27 1945.
King Charles spoke with Holocaust survivors during his visit the Jewish Community Centre (JCC) Krakow, Poland, today[/caption]
The monarch delivered a touching speech[/caption]
The King was presented with a painting from children thanking him for his visit[/caption]
Auschwitz survivors addressed the invited guests, including France’s President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and Spain’s King Philip VI and Queen Letizia.
Survivors placed a light in front of a freight train carriage – a symbol of the event – and the King lay lights in memory of those who died during the Holocaust.
After the ceremony Charles walked through the gates to view personal items confiscated from victims when they entered the camp and lay a wreath at a reconstruction of the Death Wall, the site where several thousand people, mainly Polish political prisoners, were executed.
Queen pledges to ‘never forget’ Holocaust atrocities
By Matt Wilkinson, Royal Editor
QUEEN Camilla vowed to “never forget” the atrocities of the Holocaust — ahead of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
She spoke at the annual lunch of the Anne Frank Trust in central London where she met survivors, including Eva Clarke, 79, who was born in a concentration camp.
Camilla said: “Today, more than ever, with levels of antisemitism at their highest level for a generation, and disturbing rises in Islamophobia and other forms of racism and prejudice, we must heed this warning.
“The deadly seeds of the Holocaust were sown at first in small acts of exclusion, of aggression and of discrimination towards those who had previously been neighbours and friends.
“Over a terrifying short period of time, those seeds took root through the complacency of which we can all be guilty: of turning away from injustice, of ignoring that which we know to be wrong, of thinking that someone else will do what’s needed – and of remaining silent.
“Let’s unite in our commitment to take action, to speak up and to ensure that the words “never forget” are a guiding light that charts a path towards a better, brighter, and more tolerant future for us all.”
Trust patron Camilla also stood with Auschwitz survivor Arek Hersh, 96, for a candle lighting ceremony before observing a minute’s silence.
Otto Frank was the only family member who survived the war, with 15-year-old Anne dying along with her older sister Margot in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and her mother Edith dying at Auschwitz.
Published in 1947 and read by millions, Anne’s diary became a symbol of hope and resilience.
Polish President Andrzej Duda walking between barbed wire fences at the Auschwitz-Birkenau today[/caption]
Candles and wreaths left by survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp stand at the so-called “Death Wall” at the Auschwitz I former concentration camp[/caption]
