King visits Jewish community in Krakow ahead of Auschwitz commemorations
death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Heads of government and world leaders will be convening at the site later to pay their respects to those who tragically lost their lives at the hands of the Nazi regime.
He visited with Holocaust survivors at the Jewish Community Centre Krakow, which he established in 2008, and met with numerous well-wishers who awaited him outside.
Some people proffered their hands for the King to grasp in a handshake, albeit others displayed their smartphones to record his visit.
He stated: "I believe I must attend the 80th anniversary, it is of the utmost importance."
The former concentration camp's commemoration ceremonies in Poland began earlier when President Andrzej Duda laid wreaths and lit candles alongside survivors from Auschwitz.
Tributes were paid at a recreation of the Death Wall, the spot where several thousand individuals, predominantly Polish political prisoners, were tragically executed.
In a speech, Mr Duda stated, "we Poles are the custodians of remembrance at the present time" and had a duty to safeguard the life histories of the survivors.
Over a million people, primarily Jews but also including Poles, Soviet prisoners of war, and those of other nationalities, met their deaths at the hands of the Nazis in Auschwitz-Birkenau during World War II as part of the Holocaust, which resulted in the loss of six million Jewish men, women, and children.
The camp was freed by soldiers from the 60th Army of the First Ukrainian Front as they opened the gates on 27 January 1945.
The ceremony will take place in front of the entrance to the previous Nazi extermination camp that had the inscription "Arbeit Macht Frei - WORK SETS YOU FREE" above it.
Survivors of Auschwitz are to address the invited guests, who are primarily expected to comprise France's president, Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Dutch monarchs King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima, and Spanish monarchs King Philip VI and Queen Letizia.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has also been confirmed to be attending.
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