The Prince of Wales will join around 40 world leaders from Europe, North America and Australia who will gather for the World Holocaust Forum, which is organized by the World Holocaust Forum Foundation in cooperation with Yad Vashem, under the auspices of the President of the State of Israel.
LONDON—Britain’s Prince Charles will attend the Fifth World Holocaust Forum, entitled “Remembering the Holocaust, Fighting Antisemitism,” which will take place at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem on 23 January 2020. This was confirmed by Clarence House.
The event will mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“It is a great honour for us that Prince Charles will be attending the Fifth World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem in January,” said Moshe Kantor, President of the World Holocaust Forum. “Prince Charles is a figure of strong moral authority and has long been recognised as a leading voice against intolerance, hate and antisemitism.”
“That Prince Charles has chosen to attend our unprecedented conference on Holocaust remembrance and against antisemitism on his first official visit to Israel speaks volumes.”
The Prince of Wales will join around 40 world leaders from Europe, North America and Australia who will gather for the World Holocaust Forum, which is organized by the World Holocaust Forum Foundation in cooperation with Yad Vashem, under the auspices of the President of the State of Israel.
The announcement that he will visit Israel in January is another significant milestone for the country but also for the Jewish community in Britain and for Holocaust-related causes, wrote former British palace aide Zaki Cooper in The Jewish Chronicle.
On his last visit to the country three years ago for Shimon Peres’ funeral, the Prince made a point of visiting his grandmother’s grave on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Princess Alice of Greece saved Jews during the Holocaust and is regarded as one of the Righteous among the Nations.
The Prince and other Royals are immensely proud of the action she took, and often refer to it in their public pronouncements.
Prince Charles has a track record of supporting Holocaust-related causes, and recent years have seen an intensification of this work.
In 2016 he replaced his mother as Patron of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and has held a number of engagements with survivors’ groups.
Among the other leaders who have confirmed their presence at the World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem are Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella and the President of Austria, Alexander Van der Bellen.
Founded in 2005 by Moshe Kantor, who is also President of the European Jewish Congress, the World Holocaust Forum Foundation is an international organization dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust and its important lessons for all of humanity, including fighting rising antisemitism.
The event in January takes place against the background of the rise in hateful and violent expressions of antisemitism, especially in Europe. Given this alarming situation, efforts to educate about the dangers of antisemitism, racism and xenophobia and foster Holocaust commemoration and research have made this event more crucial and relevant than ever.