The Duke of Cambridge has paid tribute in Jerusalem to the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust in an emotional ceremony during his historic visit to Israel.
Prince William laid a wreath at the Holocaust remembrance centre Yad Vashem and was shown around the museum’s Hall of Names, a virtual cemetery where names and details of millions of victims are recorded.
At one point the prince viewed an exhibit of shoes taken from Jews by the Nazis at a death camp, and the remains of a cattle-car used to transport victims to the camps.
“It’s terrifying. I’m trying to comprehend the scale,” said William, who wore a black Jewish skullcap that was a gift from the British chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, who accompanied him.
The prince is the first senior member of the royal family to pay an official visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
Sharing the moment were Holocaust survivors, including two, Henry Foner, 86, and Paul Alexander, 80, who were among the thousands of Jewish children taken to Britain in safety on the Kindertransport.
“When I put my foot on English soil for the first time, it was like I had been reborn, because I left Nazi Germany and was received by the British people and I have an enormous debt of thanks to the British people,” Alexander, originally from Leipzig, told Reuters.
Foner, whose original name was Heinz Lichtwitz, arrived in Swansea from Berlin in 1939. His father, Max, regularly sent postcards to him in Wales. A final missive read: “Our destiny is very uncertain.” He was murdered at Auschwitz months later.
Foner, who took the name of the family who adopted him, gave William a book he wrote in honour of his father. “It’s a great honour for me to be able to say thank you, symbolically, to the British people who saved my life.”
There was a personal connection for the prince as well. His great-grandmother, Princess Alice of Greece – the mother of the Duke of Edinburgh – is recognised by the memorial for her role in rescuing Jews during the Holocaust by hiding three members of a family called Cohen in her palace in Athens during the Nazi occupation of Greece.
William was later welcomed by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his wife, Sara, at their official residence in Jerusalem. The prince was also due to see the Israeli president, Reuven Rivlin
On Wednesday, he is scheduled to meet the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and Palestinian refugees and young people in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The Foreign Office has said the prince’s five-day Middle East tour, which began in Jordan, is non-political.
The prince’s visit comes at a time of heightened tensions in the region, with deadly clashes on the Gaza border following protests as Israel marks its 70th anniversary year, and US president Donald Trump’s decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
“We know this is not a time when we can celebrate progress in the Middle East peace process, but we believe that engagement is just as important in challenging times as it is in good times,” Philip Hall, Britain’s consul general in Jerusalem, said on Monday. “We know some of the politics are difficult, but this is not a political visit.”
Agencies contributed to this report