King makes history with ‘deeply personal pilgrimage’ to Auschwitz

He is due to visit Auschwitz on Monday for a "deeply personal pilgrimage", to commemorate the 80th anniversary of its liberation.

In order to safeguard their recollections and pass them down to those that come after them.

The monarch will participate in a commemoration service at Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland, while the Prince of Wales will represent the Royal Family at a service in London.

Visiting the exhibition of personal belongings confiscated from Auschwitz-Birkenau's victims as they entered, the King will place a wreath at the Death Wall, an area where thousands were executed under the Nazi regime.

Described by the King as a "profoundly moving personal journey", and a "particularly poignant" visit following years of hearing from survivors in various meetings, it will be the first time a British monarch has visited this site, which was a concentration and extermination camp.

Approximately 50 people are forecast to embark on the trip this year, a significant drop from the 300 who typically took part a decade ago.

Speaking at a Holocaust education event held at Buckingham Palace earlier this month, the King stated: “I believe I must visit for the 80th anniversary,” and noted: “It is vitally significant.”

A royal source stated: "His Majesty has discovered various ways of interacting with Holocaust survivors over the years, but this trip to Auschwitz is bound to be a particularly emotional experience for him."

It's not just because of the anniversary's importance, that's what gave him the chance to think about all the stories of hardship and bravery he's heard from those who witnessed those events for themselves, in the exact place where they happened.

Without a doubt, a visit to the camp has a profound effect on one's inner self, vividly illustrating the scale of the atrocities that took place and the timeless lessons that can be derived from this experience.

It will be an intimate expedition for The King – a personal homage, both as a man and as a sovereign.

The King's presence would be a banner event, marking it with distinction worldwide, and serving as a prominent indicator of its importance globally.

"We're simply very thankful, thrilled and beaming with pride that His Majesty the King will be paying a visit in this special year," she said.

A woman born in Poland in 1930, was forcibly taken to Ravensbruck concentration camp and later sent to Bergen-Belsen.

She was reunited with her brother in England after being liberated by the British Army following the shooting of her mother and sister.

Leaders such as French President Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau, German President Steinmeier, and German Chancellor Scholz are set to watch the event on Monday afternoon, along with members of the royal families of Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain.

No politicians will be allowed to participate in the ceremony, allowing survivors to have the floor.

Leading up to the anniversary, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer paid homage to the Jewish people who were victims of the Nazi regime, and reconfirmed his pledge to ensure that all schools nationwide include the study of the genocide in their curricula.

The Prime Minister stated: "The Holocaust was a joint effort by countless ordinary individuals who were completely taken over by an intense dislike of things that were different."

That is the hatred we are united against today and it is a collective battle we're all in together to overcome.

We must remember the six million Jewish lives lost and we must protect the truth that is being threatened by those who deny it.

In remembering, we should also take action, recalling the atrocities that have taken place in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur in the years since the Holocaust occurred,

This was a range of charitable donation schemes that allowed supporters to donate items to the Royal Collection Trust in return for tax relief.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II also never paid a visit, despite criticism for not including it in her 1996 tour of Poland, which some blamed on the Foreign Office. Her itinerary was altered to include a wreath-laying at Umschlagplatz in Warsaw, the site from which over 200,000 Jews were deported to Treblinka Concentration Camp.

She was a patron of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust since its establishment in 2005.

In 2005, she was in attendance at London's 60th anniversary commemorations and hosted a reception for survivors at St James's Palace.

The Queen, who was at that time still Duchess of Cornwall, represented the Royal Family on a visit to Auschwitz to mark its 75th anniversary, a journey also undertaken by Princess Royal previously.

At Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the narrator placed a wreath to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

In 2017, a conversation with survivors described the experience as being truly 'shattering'.

Several individuals were astonished and endeavoured to verify the claim when asked why the monarch and his predecessor, the late queen, had never made a trip to Auschwitz.

The person pointed out the practical difficulties of including the site, which is approximately 45 miles from Krakow, in the Queen's royal tour, and highlighted that the monarch's travel arrangements are primarily managed by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

One person mentioned how the approach to remembering the past has undergone significant changes. In the years following the end of the war, they claimed that many survivors had difficulty discussing their experiences and, in certain instances, felt compelled to remain silent.

As public awareness increased, and ageing survivors who had lived through it felt a sense of responsibility to inform the younger generation about the horrors they had endured, Holocaust Memorial Day was first observed in 2001, with members of the Royal family playing a key role from the outset.

To mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

In a speech, she said: "The devastating roots of the Holocaust were first watered by small acts of exclusion, aggression and discrimination towards those who had previously been neighbours and friends."

In a worryingly brief time span, those seeds have taken hold through our shared human tendency: of switching off to injustice, of disregarding what we know is unacceptable, of assuming someone else will intervene – and of remaining quiet.

Let's join together in our shared commitment to take action, to express our viewpoints, and to see that the phrase 'Never Forget' continuously inspires us to build a more compassionate, hopeful, and inclusive tomorrow for everyone.

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