Prince William and Kate Middleton stepped out on Monday for Holocaust Memorial Day. The day is observed every year on January 27, when Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated. The royal pair were on hand at the UK Holocaust Memorial Day Commemorative Ceremony in London.
Their day began with an official service also attended by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. William and Kate were greeted by Olivia Marks-Woldman, chief executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, and Sir Ben Helfgott, honorary president and a well-known Holocaust survivor.
Prince William addressed the pair. "We were talking this morning about how you carry on this message for future generations," he said. "We will do our best."
Prince William also read a letter that was sent from a friend of his great-grandmother's. The letter detailed how Princess Alice helped Jews who were fleeing Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.
"When the persecution of the Jews by the Germans began, Princess Alice asked to be informed about the fate of the Cohen family. Having been informed by friends and by her lady in waiting about the plight of Mrs. Cohen and her young daughter, the Princess decided to offer her hospitality to the two ladies; in fact to hide them in her home despite the danger this entailed."
The letter continues: "The Princess put a small two-room apartment on the third floor at the disposal of Mrs. Cohen and her daughter. It was thanks to the courageous rescue of Princess Alice that the members of the Cohen family were saved."
"The members of the Cohen family left the residence three weeks after liberation, aware that by virtue of the Princess’s generosity and bravery had spared them from the Nazis. The great-granddaughter of Rachel Cohen, Evy Cohen, said this 2 years ago: ‘My family would not exist without the courageous act of Princess Alice. Her story of incredible courage must keep being told in her memory.'"
And Prince William concluded with this bit from the letter, "My generation, the past generation and the future generation are, and will eternally be, grateful to Princess Alice for the great act of bravery, risking her own life to take in a family in need."
Princess Alice was, of course, Prince Philip's mother. She has long been considered one of the heroes of the Holocaust, and she is buried in Jerusalem. Prince Charles also recently spoke of Princess Alice. "I am immensely proud that my dear grandmother, Princess Alice of Greece, is buried in Jerusalem, on the Mount of Olives."
Prince Charles added, "She is counted one of the Righteous among the Nations for her actions in 1943 when, in Nazi-occupied Athens, she saved a Jewish family by taking them into her home and hiding them. My grandmother was a formidable lady."
The Duchess of Cambridge also recently shared moving photos she took of two Holocaust survivors and their grandchildren. According to the Kensington Palace Instagram account, kensingtonroyal, "The first photograph features Steven Frank with his granddaughters, Maggie and Trixie. Alongside his mother and brothers, Steven was sent to Westerbork transit camp then to Theresienstadt. Steven and his brothers were 3 of only 93 children who survived the camp – 15,000 children were sent there."
"The Duchess also photographed Yvonne Bernstein with her granddaughter Chloe. Yvonne was a hidden child in France, travelling in the care of her aunt and uncle and frequently changing homes and names."
Kate explained, "I wanted to make the portraits deeply personal to Yvonne and Steven – a celebration of family and the life that they have built since they both arrived in Britain in the 1940s. The families brought items of personal significance with them which are included in the photographs."
Kate added, "It was a true honour to have been asked to participate in this project and I hope in some way Yvonne and Steven’s memories will be kept alive as they pass the baton to the next generation."
On Monday, Kate also shared a few more thoughts about meeting Yvonne and Steven. "The harrowing atrocities of the Holocaust, which were caused by the most unthinkable evil, will forever lay heavy in our hearts. Yet it is so often through the most unimaginable adversity that the most remarkable people flourish."
"Despite unbelievable trauma at the start of their lives, Yvonne Bernstein and Steven Frank are two of the most life-affirming people that I have had the privilege to meet. They look back on their experiences with sadness but also with gratitude that they were some of the lucky few to make it through. Their stories will stay with me forever."
