Prince William’s deeply personal Holocaust story as Kate hugs survivors
Prince William told his great grandmother’s Holocaust story as Princess Kate joined him to mark 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz.
The Prince of Wales described how Princess Alice of Battenberg—Prince Philip’s mother—had sheltered a Jewish widow and two of her children to protect them during the Nazi occupation of Athens.
He told the story during a visit in which Princess Kate hugged Holocaust survivors after a last minute announcement she would join the poignant commemorations.
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Prince William paid his respects to those murdered during the Holocaust as well as survivors and said: “On this, the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, we also recall those who risked their own lives to help and save others.
“They risked death, torture and persecution to defy the aggressors. I was recently reminded of my great-grandmother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, who lived in Athens during the Second World War.”
He then read a passage of the book Heroes of the Holocaust, which detailed how “Princess Alice gave refuge to a Jewish widow, Rachel Cohen, and two of her five children to save them from deportation to the death camps.”
The book described how it was an “extremely risky undertaking” because of “spies and gossip” on the packed streets of the Greek capital city and Alice had to pretend Cohen was the former governess to her children.
Meanwhile, the front door of her home was opposite the local archbishop’s residence, which “always had a German guard on duty outside.”
“She was sometimes interviewed by the Gestapo and used her deafness to an advantage, pretending not to understand their questions or what they were talking about,” according to the extract William read.
“It worked and they soon gave up. Thanks to her, the entire Cohen family survived the war.”
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The prince concluded by saying: “It has been a great honor for Catherine and I to join you all today. Thank you.”
Kate met Holocaust survivors Yvonne Bernstein and Steven Frank, who she previously photographed in 2020 for an exhibition at the Imperial War Museum in London.
As Kate hugged Bernstein, she said: “It’s so nice to see you, it’s so lovely to see you.”
During the visit, William said he wanted to pass on the lessons of the Holocaust to his children: “George is getting to the age where he’s starting to understand things. So it’s getting interesting to talk to him about what happened.”
King Charles III travelled to Auschwitz-Birkenau to join commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp, becoming the first British head of state to visit Auschwitz to mark the somber day.
“To be in Poland on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, as we commemorate eighty years since the liberation of Auschwitz, is both a somber and indeed a sacred moment,” he said during a speech.
“It is a moment when we recall the 6 million Jews, old and young, who were systematically murdered, together with Sinti, Roma, disabled people, members of the LGBT community, political prisoners, and so many others upon whom the Nazis inflicted their violence and hatred.
“It is a moment when we recall the depths to which humanity can sink when evil is allowed to flourish, ignored for too long by the world.
“And it is a moment when we recall the powerful testimonies of survivors such as Lily Ebert, who so sadly passed away in October, and who collectively taught us to cherish our freedom, to challenge prejudice and never to be a bystander in the face of violence and hate.
“In a world that remains full of turmoil and strife, and has witnessed the dangerous re-emergence of antisemitism, there can be no more important message—especially as the United Kingdom holds the Presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.”
Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.
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