King meets Holocaust survivors as he prepares for historic Auschwitz visit
Charles met 94-year-old Manfred Goldberg during an event at Buckingham Palace on the day it was confirmed he would join other world leaders at the camp this month.
Justin Cohen is the News Editor at the Jewish News

The King has spoken of his pain at the dwindling number of Holocaust survivors as he kicked off the UK’s commemorations for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
Charles III met 94-year-old survivor Manfred Goldberg during an event at Buckingham Palace on the day it was confirmed he would join other world leaders at the notorious camp later this month.
Manfred, 94, who survived concentration camps, including Stutthof, and a death march when just a schoolboy, said the first thing the King mentioned was the trip, saying: “I feel I must go for the anniversary, (it’s) so important.”
The monarch was introduced to students and teachers from a Cheney School in Oxford who were among the community groups, interfaith activists and prisoners to take part in the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust’s 80 candles for 80 years project. The school collaborated with the Rumble Museum and Museum of Oxford to learn about survivor Anita Laskar-Wallfish, who was part of the women’s orchestra at Auschwitz. The result is a candleholder that includes broken glass to represent her time in the camp as well as musical motifs.

HMDT CEO Olivia Marks-Woldman told the King that the initiative had encouraged creativity from the most destructive of times, while chair Laura Marks said the 80 candleholders will be showcased in a special digital exhibition on Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January – stressing the challenge to represent the stories of survivors when they are no longer with us.
One answer to that challenge is provided in the Holocaust educational Trust’s Testimony 360 project which the King was introduced to by CEO Karen Pollock and chair Craig Leviton. Launched last year and used by schoolchildren across the country, it uses VR technology to enable students to ask a virtual Goldberg hundreds of questions about his experiences in the Shoah.
HET ambassadors Phoebe Winter and Jake Grey and Sacred Heart School students Lara Moreyra Gouveia and Victor Luiz Carvalho De Jesus, who have taken part in the programme, spoke of its impact, prompted by an intrigued monarch who quizzed the youngsters on their studies. He also took his chance to ask the VR Manfred a question.

Manfred was asked by Charles about his 2017 meeting with the Prince and Princess of Wales at Stuttof and later said of the King’s decision to join the Auschwitz commemoration: “I find it almost difficult to put into words, and I’m not often lost for words. But I think it is an astounding affirmation by His Majesty that he fully understands the colossal injustice and atrocity that was perpetrated against Jewish people during the Holocaust.
“He seems to have made it an active component of his life to do what he can to ensure that people become aware. He, like me, is trying to spread knowledge that once people understand what the Holocaust represents, I think every single one contributes to preventing it ever happen again. Silence never helps the oppressed.” He also expressed concern for the future of the country “not because of politics, because of the social media platforms”.
The King said he “couldn’t bare” that survivors were becoming fewer in number and described Manfred as “extraordinary” for continuing with his work in reaching young people about the lessons of the Holocaust. “It was nice to hear that from His Majesty,” Manfred, who was accompanied by his wife, told reporters.
The King also met Natasha Kaplinsky, who told him of her work in interviewing more than 100 survivors following David Cameron’s Holocaust Commission. The event concluded with a moving performance by Echo Eternal, a project of the CORE Education Trust and the National Youth Music Theatre which encourages school groups to create artistic responses to survivor testimony. The performance featured comments from the late survivor Zigi Shipper urging young people not to be consumed by hate.
Pollock said: “As antisemitism continues to surge across the globe, today’s event reminds us of the urgency of educating where antisemitism and hatred can lead. We are profoundly grateful for His Majesty’s support and dedication to this critical work.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.