King says trip to mark anniversary of Auschwitz liberation is ‘so important’

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.”

Mr Goldberg added: “He, like me, is trying to spread knowledge that once people understand what the Holocaust represents, I think every single one contributes to preventing it ever happen again.

“Silence never helps the oppressed, it always helps the oppressors.”

More than a million people, mostly Jews but also Poles, Soviet prisoners of war and other nationalities, were murdered by the Nazis at Auschwitz-Birkenau during the Second World War as part of the Holocaust, in which six million Jewish men, women and children were killed.

The camp was liberated by soldiers of the 60th Army of the First Ukrainian Front opened the gates of Auschwitz concentration camp on January 27 1945.

A virtual reality Manfred Goldberg was on display on a screen at the palace, part of a new digital education programme in schools organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust.

Charles, patron of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, was given a demonstration of the virtual 94-year-old created after his living counterpart was filmed answering hundreds of questions to enable him to interact with schoolchildren.

The King asked the AI-generated Holocaust survivor what lesson he wanted humanity to learn, and it replied that ignoring the “injustice” experienced by someone else was a “dangerous response”.

The head of state told Mr Goldberg: “Thank you for all the things you do, it shows how special you are.”

On display were portraits of Holocaust survivors commissioned by Charles when he was the Prince of Wales, including an image of Mr Goldberg, and a candleholder created by pupils from Cheney School in Oxford, as part of the 80 Candles for 80 Years national project by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.

Groups ranging from schools to prisons have created 80 holders with each inspired by a figure or community persecuted by the Nazis.

The reception ended with a short performance from Echo Eternal, a commemorative arts and community engagement project led by CORE Education Trust in partnership with the National Youth Music Theatre.

Schools and youth organisations have been invited to create artistic responses to the testimonies of British Holocaust survivors.