Dr Bea Lewkowicz, a Jewish filmmaker and daughter of Holocaust survivors, has revealed that the Prince of Wales stressed the critical importance of "preserving the truth" in the digital era during her investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on Wednesday.
Prince William's Remarks on Truth and Digital Media
Dr Lewkowicz, who received an OBE for services to Holocaust remembrance and education, shared that Prince William "pointed out that, especially now, it is important to, kind of, preserve the truth, because we live in this era of digital media" amid concerns over "Holocaust distortion and rising antisemitism."
Rising Antisemitism in the UK
Her comments come as the Jewish charity Community Security Trust recorded 3,700 antisemitic incidents last year, the second-highest annual total, only surpassed by nearly 4,300 reports in 2023.
Dr Lewkowicz's Dedication to Holocaust Documentation
Dr Lewkowicz has spent 25 years documenting the lives of Holocaust survivors and refugees. She is also a project director and co-founder of Refugee Voices, an archive of video testimonies from Jews who fled Nazi Europe.
She noted that Prince William "thanked me for listening to the survivors and was concerned about the emotional impact and, you know, what it means to listen to those stories."
Family Background
Her mother grew up in Slovakia and survived the war with her parents and sister under a false identity. Her father grew up in Katowice, Poland, and was sent to six different concentration camps. Dr Lewkowicz said that when her mother was "hiding in Slovakia" during the war, she listened to the BBC World Service and was "so grateful to Britain for helping to end the war."
Importance of Testimonies for Education
Dr Lewkowicz emphasised the importance of using recorded testimonies from Holocaust victims "for educational purposes" and to combat the rise in "contemporary antisemitism." She added that she spoke with Prince William about his 2017 visit to the former Stutthof concentration camp alongside Holocaust survivor Manfred Goldberg and how the King honoured Mr Goldberg by making him an MBE.
"I'm grateful to the entire royal family for the various things they have done (for Holocaust survivors)," she added.
She concluded: "It's really important, for the first generation, but also for second generation, like me, to know that in difficult times – and I think the Jewish community now finds it quite difficult – that even in those difficult times, the support is there."
