Holocaust Memorial Day: Prince Charles urges people to remember tragedies of genocide

  • Prince Charles message on Holocaust Memorial Day


Prince Charles has joined famous faces from around the world in urging people to remember the tragedies of the Auschwitz on Holocaust Memorial Day.

The Prince of Wales, patron of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, is ensuring that survivors' stories are not being forgotten as the number of people who saw the horrors of the genocide first hand dwindle.

The genocide during the Second World War saw millions of Jews and other minorities locked in concentration camps in Auschwitz and killed at the hands of the Nazis.

A remembrance ceremony will be hosted online from 7pm.

The Prince of Wales is the patron of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust Credit: PA

To end the ceremony at 8pm, Prince Charles and Camilla will join a national moment of lighting the darkness - a video of Holocaust survivors and people across the UK who have lit candles and placed them in their windows.

Messages from Premier League footballers Jordan Henderson and Bruno Fernandes, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, celebrity adventurer Bear Grylls and religious leaders will feature in the video.

Charles will tell the ceremony: “As I speak, the last generation of living witnesses is tragically passing from this world, so the task of bearing witness falls to us.

“This is not a task for one time only, nor is it a task for one generation, or one person.


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“It is for all people, all generations, and all time.

“This is our time when we can, each in our own way, be the light that ensures the darkness can never return.”

National landmarks across Britain, including Wembley Stadium, Cardiff Castle and the Tyne Bridge, will be lit in purple at 8pm.

People are also encouraged light a candle in their window after the ceremony.

The ceremony will run from 7pm to 8pm on Wednesday and can be joined here.