US/World News

Prince William and Kate visit Nazi concentration camp in Poland

(JTA) – Britain’s Prince William and his wife, Kate, visited the site of the Stutthof concentration camp in Poland and met with five Holocaust survivors. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who are on a five-day visit to Poland and Germany, toured the Stutthof Museum on the grounds of the former Nazi camp east of Gdansk on Tuesday, July 18. Reports said the royal couple were visibly moved by what they saw, including displays with piles of shoes that had belonged to camp inmates and gas chambers where inmates were killed. They placed stones at the camp’s memorial to its victims, a Jewish custom. As many as 110,000 Jews were imprisoned in Stutthof before Allied forces liberated the camp in May 1945. More than 60,000 people died in the camp. According to the British embassy, the duke has never visited any former Nazi concentration camp before.

In the guest book, their message read: “We were intensely moved by our visit to Stutthof, which has been the scene of so much terrible pain, suffering and death. This shattering visit has reminded us of the horrendous murder of six million Jews, drawn from across the whole of Europe, who died in the abominable Holocaust. It is, too, a terrible reminder of the cost of war. And the fact that Poland alone lost millions of its people, who were the victims of a most brutal occupation. All of us have an overwhelming responsibility to make sure that we learn the lessons and that the horror of what happened is never forgotten and never repeated.”

Two former Stutthof prisoners now living in Britain were among those who spoke with the royal couple about their experiences. While in Poland, William and Kate also visited the Memorial of the Warsaw Uprising.

 

Caption: Prince William, second from left, and wife Kate walking with Holocaust survivors at the former Stutthof Nazi concentration camp in Gdansk, Poland, July 18, 2017. (Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images)

SHARE
RELATED POSTS
Report: Hamas agreed not to carry out attacks against Israel
Hawaiian musician performs with Matisyahu
3 barred from Chicago lesbian march for carrying Star of David pride flags

Leave Your Reply