(JTA) – Jewish leaders in Great Britain paid tribute to Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, who announced that he will retire from public engagements after August. Buckingham Palace announced May 4 that the 95-year-old Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, was stepping back from hosting charity dinners, attending state functions, presenting trophies and honoring foreign dignitaries.

Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, thanked Philip for “shining a spotlight” on Holocaust remembrance and education. His mother, Princess Alice, who risked her life in Nazi-occupied Athens to save the lives of Jews, is buried at the Mount of Olives cemetery in Jerusalem. In 2015, Elizabeth and Philip met with survivors and liberators in a visit to the former Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen in northern Germany. “I will never forget the mutual affection, humor and respect shared between [Philip] with survivors and liberators in 2015 when he and the Queen visited Bergen-Belsen,” Pollock said. “We wish him a happy and well-earned retirement.”