King Charles and Queen Camilla met Holocaust survivors and lit candles of remembrance at Buckingham Palace to mark the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945. The King viewed portraits of seven survivors, including one of Helen Aronson, 98, who was liberated from the Lodz Ghetto. She told the King the portrait by Paul Benney, commissioned when he was Prince of Wales, was 'wonderful'.
Lu Lawrence, daughter of survivor Zigi Shipper, wished her father, who died in 2023, could have seen his portrait. Charles said of survivors who have died: 'They are in spirit.' Mr Shipper survived the Lodz Ghetto, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Stutthof and a death march. The King also met Mr Shipper's great-grandson, two-year-old Zigi Harrod.
The King spoke with Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, 100, the last surviving member of the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz, who played the cello there. Charles, also a cellist, remarked on their long acquaintance of about 20 years. Her daughter recalled the King's visit for her 100th birthday as 'intimate and memorable'.
Survivor Rachel Levy handed taper candles to the King and Queen to light from the Holocaust Memorial Trust as an act of remembrance. Ms Levy, honoured in a portrait, survived Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen before rebuilding her life in London. The couple also spoke with survivors Arek Hersh and others, youth ambassadors and charity workers at the reception.
