On the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, King Charles spoke of the importance of learning from the past.
His words came as people around the world stopped to remember the six million Jewish people as well as the thousands of members of Roma, LGBTQ communities and disabled people who were killed in the Holocaust.
The King was very visibly overcome with emotion as he laid a wreath at the death wall of the concentration camp and appeared, briefly, unable to walk away from the place where so many were executed during World War Two.
King Charles had joined world leaders at a poignant commemoration marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. They joined 56 survivors who were gathered to mark the anniversary.
The moving ceremony held in a tent outside the “gate of death” saw many survivors speak of their horrific experiences.
King Frederik and Queen Mary of Denmark attended the ceremony with the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, and four Danish Auschwitz survivors.
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands were at the ceremony along with the Princess of Orange. King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium were in attendance, as were King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Crown Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway were also present.
King Charles became the first British Monarch to visit Auschwitz and the experience clearly had a deep impact on him.
The King also visited the Jewish Community Centre in Krakow where he delivered his speech and said ”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.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source royalcentral.co.uk ’
