Prince Charles, recently, showed pride in the actions that his grandmother during World War 2 at a Holocaust memorial ceremony in Jerusalem. The future king shared that Princess Alive of Greece sheltered Jews in Nazi-occupied Greece.
Around 40 world leaders attended the event. The celebration marked the 75th year since the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz. There, Prince Charles proudly shared his grandmother’s contribution to saving a Jewish family.
“I have long drawn inspiration from the selfless actions of my dear grandmother, Princess Alice of Greece, who in 1943 in Nazi-occupied Athens, saved a Jewish family by taking them into her home and hiding them,” he said. “My grandmother, who is buried on the Mount of Olives, has a tree planted in her name here at Yad Vashem and is counted as one of the Righteous Among the Nations – a fact which gives me and my family immense pride.”
Princess Alice is Queen Elizabeth’s mother-in-law and she was mostly known for her charity work. She is also deeply remembered as someone who “looked after the poorest people”.
While Prince Charles proudly brought up his grandmother’s contribution, he didn’t forget to mention those who have lost their lives during the Holocaust and those who have survived. The Prince of Wales, then, urged everyone to never forget them.
“Almost a lifetime has passed since the horror of the Holocaust unfolded on the European continent, and those who bore witness to it are sadly ever fewer,” he continued. “We must, therefore, commit ourselves to ensuring that their stories live on, to be known and understood by each successive generation.”
Prince Charles, also, shared that even though Nazis are not going around killing people like before, these sufferings are still going on until today because of hatred.
“The lessons of the Holocaust are searingly relevant to this day. Seventy-five years after the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, hatred, and intolerance still lurk in the human heart, still tell new lies, adopt new disguises, and still seek new victims,” he shared. “The Holocaust was an appalling Jewish tragedy, but it was also a universal human tragedy, and one which we compound if we do not heed its lessons.”
Prince Charles was greeted with a round of applause for his emotional Holocaust forum speech. (Read the full transcript here).
