SUPPORT OUR JOURNALISM: Please consider donating to keep our website running and free for all - thank you!

British RoyalsPrince & Princess of Wales

The Duchess of Cambridge marks Holocaust Memorial Day

Kate, The Duchess of Cambridge

The Duchess of Cambridge marked Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27th with a poignant video call with two Holocaust survivors, Zigi Shipper and Manfred Golberg.

The men, who’d been sent to the Stutthof concentration camp when they were teenagers, have become lifelong friends and are now in their 90s.

As they shared their stories and remembrances, Kate told them, “The stories you both have shared with me again today, and your dedication in educating the younger generation about your experiences and the horrors of the Holocaust shows extreme strength and such bravery.

“It’s so important and so inspirational, so thank you so much once again for sharing your stories with me and for all the work you do in sharing your experiences.”

Kate first met Zigi and Manfred during a 2017 royal visit to Poland near the site of the Stutthof concentration camp that operated during the Second World War and murdered around 28,000 Jewish people (around 65,000 people perished in total at the concentration camp).

In a moment of levity, Zigi revealed that he was happy to be talking to Kate again, saying, “I was so happy, you know. I didn’t need your husband. You are the one that I wanted.”

Kate laughed and passed on her wishes from William, telling Zigi that “I will tell him you miss him very much. And he sends his regards as well, obviously it’s lovely to see you again.”

Manfred, now 90, told Kate that he was reunited with his father, who’d spent the war in Britain, after the war along with his mother. Sadly, his younger brother Herman was killed at Stutthof when he was nine years old.

Kate asked him about the long-term impact of what he’d experienced, with Manfred saying “I know that many survivors have not had a peaceful night’s sleep, many even to this day. Invariably they have nightmares. I was really very lucky, perhaps one in a million, who had both parents alive after the war. All of my friends, including my friend Zigi, none of them had two parents alive. I had a home life.”

Manfred, who came to the UK in 1946, added, “I did not dream in my lifetime I would ever have the privilege of seeing, never mind connecting, with royalty. It confirms to me that I will never appreciate fully how lucky I was to be admitted to live my life in this country in freedom.”

Zigi, 91, shared his story, including his post-war reunion with his mother in the UK. Since then, he married and had children, including six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He told Kate that he wouldn’t have wanted to go anywhere else after building a life in England, with Kate replying “I am glad you stayed here Zigi and it’s fantastic you made new friends and a life here.”

Kate, Manfred and Zigi were joined on the video call with student ambassadors of the Holocaust Educational Trust, which had arranged the call.

Manfred said, about educating the younger generations about the horrors of the Holocaust that, “What I end up telling them is that please remember all it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to remain silent. And I do get feedback that indicates that this is taken aboard. I have been told time and again, that leaning about the Holocaust from a text book is rather dull and doesn’t make an impact. But to listen to a survivor makes an incredible impact.”

Kate replied, “We all have a role to play, all generations have a role to play in making sure the stories that we have heard from Zigi and Manfred today live on and ensure that the lessons that we have learnt are not repeated in history for future generations.

“I am really glad there is the younger generation flying the flag for this work. Manfred and Zigi, I never forgot the first time we met in 2017 and your stories have stuck with me since then and It’s been a pleasure to see you again today and you are right Manfred, it’s important that these stories are passed onto the next generation.”

The full video of Kate’s conversation with Zigi and Manfred can be found here.

About author

Jess Ilse is the Assistant Editor at Royal Central. She specialises in the British, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish Royal Families and has been following royalty since Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee. Jess has provided commentary for media outlets in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Jess works in communications and her debut novel THE MAJESTIC SISTERS will publish in Fall 2024.