King says trip to mark anniversary of Auschwitz liberation is ‘so important’
King says trip to mark anniversary of Auschwitz liberation is ‘so important’
Share:
The King has described his decision to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the German Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau as “so important”. Charles spoke about his forthcoming trip when he met Holocaust survivor Manfred Goldberg at a Buckingham Palace reception commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27.
Mr Goldberg, 94, who survived concentration camps, including Stutthof, and a death march when just a schoolboy, said the first thing the King mentioned was the trip, saying it was “now official” after it was announced earlier by Buckingham Palace.
“I feel I must go for the 80th anniversary, (it’s) so important,” the King later told the elderly survivor who visits schools to give first-hand accounts of the Holocaust, and was described by the King as “very special”. Charles will travel to Poland to join other dignitaries and Holocaust survivors invited to a service, held at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and Memorial, commemorating the 80th anniversary.
Ahead of the event next Monday, Charles will meet members of the local community in Krakow and Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, Buckingham Palace has said. Mr Goldberg said about the trip: “I find it almost difficult to put into words, and I’m not often lost for words.
“But I think it is an astounding affirmation by His Majesty that he fully understands the colossal injustice and atrocity that was perpetrated against Jewish people during the Holocaust. “And he seems to have made it an active component of his life to do what he can to ensure that people become aware.”.
