Holocaust Memorial Day – latest: Kate joins William at event as King issues warning on Auschwitz anniversary

Sadiq Khan has spoken of his poignant trip to the Krakow Ghetto as the world marks Holocaust Memorial Day.

The Mayor of London said: “Today I visited the site of the Krakow ghetto.

“It’s a poignant and powerful reminder of the horrors Jewish people faced under Nazi occupation. We must never forgot what happened here.”

The King earlier spoke of the need to remember “evils past” during a visit to the former Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau to mark the 80th anniversary of its liberation.

“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.”

Kate hugged and spoke at length with Holocaust survivor Steven Frank BEM, now 89-years-old.

Mr Frank was photographed by the princess to mark the 75th anniversary commemorations in 2020.

Asked about his interactions with Kate after the event, he told reporters: “She’s such a darling.

“She just immediately knew my name – such a lovely person. My grandchildren would be thrilled.”

Asked about his continued efforts to share his experiences, Mr Frank added: “It’s become sort of a mission. Most people say ‘You do it because it helps you mentally get it off your chest’.

“I do it because I’ve had so much good fortune coming to this country and having lived, loved, played sport, had a nice family, and it’s time to give something back.”

The Princess of Wales hugged and held hands with Holocaust survivors as she attended official commemorations.

Kate joined her husband the Prince of Wales, who described their attendance as “a great honour”, at Guildhall in central London on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

William, wearing a navy suit and blue tie, and Kate, wearing all black, were greeted on arrival by Olivia Marks-Woldman, chief executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, and its chairwoman of trustees Laura Marks.

Speaking to Ms Marks-Woldman, Kate described the commemorations as “so important”, adding: “It is great to be here today with my husband.”

The pair were then shown to the Old Library where they met with two tables of survivors and their families.

After having formal handshakes, Kate then gave one survivor, Yvonne Bernstein, 87, a warm hug before they clasped each other’s hands as they sat together and spoke.

The princess said: “(It is) such a treat for me (to see) an old friend.”

Sir Keir Starmer spoke in a speech to mark Holocaust Memorial Day of his “harrowing” visit to Block 27 at Auschwitz with his wife Victoria earlier this month to search for members of her family in the Book of Names.

“We turned page after page after page just to find the first letter of a name. It gave me an overwhelming sense of the sheer scale of this industrialised murder.

“And every one of those names, like the names we were looking for – was an individual person. Someone’s mother, father, brother, sister brutally murdered, simply because they were Jewish.

“People told to bring their belongings like the piles of pots and pans I saw myself. The commandant living next door bringing up his family, the normalisation of murder, like it was just another day’s work.

“In Auschwitz, I saw photographs of Nazi guards standing with Jewish prisoners staring at the camera – completely indifferent – and in one case, even smiling.

“It showed more powerfully than ever how the Holocaust was a collective endeavour by thousands of ordinary individuals utterly consumed by the hatred of difference.

“And that is the hatred we stand against today, and it is a collective endeavour for all of us to defeat it.”

Antisemitic incidents have surged in part along with protests against Israel in many parts of Europe, North America and Australia since Israel launched its assault on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza after attacks on Israel by Hamas militants on October 7.

Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, said on Monday that hatred of Jews was rising against the backdrop of that war, adding: “Young people are getting most of their information from social media, and that is dangerous.”

Before the ceremony, which took place in a tent built over the gate to the former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp, leaders stressed how important it was to preserve the memory of the Holocaust.

“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,” King Charles said during a visit to the Jewish Community Centre in Krakow.

The ceremony at the site of the camp, which Nazi Germany set up in occupied Poland during World War Two to murder European Jews on a huge scale, was attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and many other leaders.

They did not make speeches, but rather listened for perhaps the last time to those who suffered and witnessed at first hand one of humanity’s greatest atrocities

The King was among a group of foreign monarchs, including King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and Spain’s King Philip VI and Queen Letizia, and placed his light among a growing number with both hands, before taking a step back and bowing his head.

After a prayer by a group of clerics representing Judaism, the Catholic and Protestant churches, Greek Orthodox and Islam, survivors, accompanied by family members, were invited to leave symbolic candles in memory of those who died at Auschwitz.

The elderly men and women placed the lights on a table and they were followed by the heads of state and Government.