Prince William of Britain pays tribute to the six million Jews killed in the Nazi Holocaust, at a solemn beginning of the first official visit of a British royal to Israel and the Palestinian territories .
William, second in line on the throne, is laying a wreath at the Yad Vashem Remembrance Memorial, and meeting two men who survived the Nazi genocide through British intervention.
Henry Foner, 86, and Paul Alexander, 80, were among the thousands of Jewish children taken care of by Britain as part of the "Kindertransport" of the 1930s of a continent-wide continent. of German conquest.
Speaking before William's visit, Alexander, freshly back from a bike ride that traced his life-saving journey as a child, said that he was chosen to meet the prince in as the youngest member of Kindertransport.
"When I first set foot on the English soil, it was as if I had just reborn, because I left Nazi Germany and I did not see it again. was received by the British and I have a huge debt to the British. " told Reuters.
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Prince William in Jordan
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AMMAN, JORDAN – JUNE 25: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan visit the archaeological site of Jerash on June 25, 2018 in Amman, Jordan. (Photo by Ian Vogler – Pool / Getty Images)
AMMAN, JORDAN – JUNE 25: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan pass in front of an enlarged photo of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge in her youth with her father on family vacation, while they visit the site Archaeological Jerash in June 25, 2018 in Amman, Jordan. (Photo by Ian Vogler – Pool / Getty Images)
Prince William (C) and Jordanian Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah (R) Discuss with Syrian and Jordanian Schoolchildren During Visit to Jerash Archaeological Site, 50 Kilometers North of Jordan's Capital Amman, June 25, 2018 – The 36-year-old Duke of Cambridge arrived Sunday in Jordan at the start of a tour of the Middle East that will see him becoming the first British royal to make official visits to Israel and the Palestinian territories. . (Photo by AHMAD ABDO / AFP) (Photo credit should read AHMAD ABDO / AFP / Getty Images)
AMMAN, JORDAN – JUNE 25: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan visit the archaeological site of Jerash on June 25, 2018 in Amman, Jordan. (Photo by Ian Vogler – Pool / Getty Images)
Prince William (C) and Jordanian Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah (R) visit the archaeological site of Jerash, about 50 kilometers north of the Jordanian capital Amman, June 25, 2018. – The 36 year old Duke of Cambridge years, arrives in Jordan on Sunday, at the beginning of a tour of the Middle East that will see him become the first British royal to make official visits to Israel and the Palestinian territories. (Photo by AHMAD ABDO / AFP) (Photo credit should read AHMAD ABDO / AFP / Getty Images)
Prince William (L) and Jordanian Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah (R) visit Jerash Archaeological Site, 50 kilometers north of Jordan's capital Amman, June 25, 2018. – The 36 year old Duke of Cambridge , arrives in Jordan on Sunday at the start of a tour of the Middle East that will see him become the first British royal to make official visits to Israel and the Palestinian territories. (Photo by AHMAD ABDO / AFP) (Photo credit should read AHMAD ABDO / AFP / Getty Images)
Prince William (L) and Jordanian Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah (R) pose for a group photo with Syrian and Jordanian schoolchildren during their visit to the archaeological site of Jerash, 50 kilometers north of the Jordanian capital Amman, June 25th. 2018. – The 36 year old Duke of Cambridge arrived Sunday in Jordan at the beginning of a tour of the Middle East which will see him becoming the first British royal to make official visits to Israel and the Palestinian territories. . (Photo by AHMAD ABDO / AFP) (Photo credit should read AHMAD ABDO / AFP / Getty Images)
Prince William (C) and Jordanian Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah (R) Discuss with Syrian and Jordanian Schoolchildren During Visit to Jerash Archaeological Site, 50 Kilometers North of Jordan's Capital Amman, June 25, 2018 – The 36-year-old Duke of Cambridge arrived Sunday in Jordan at the start of a tour of the Middle East that will see him becoming the first British royal to make official visits to Israel and the Palestinian territories. . (Photo by AHMAD ABDO / AFP) (Photo credit should read AHMAD ABDO / AFP / Getty Images)
Prince William (1st-L) and Jordanian Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah (2nd-L) visit the archaeological site of Jerash, about 50 kilometers north of the Jordanian capital Amman, on June 25, 2018. – Duke, 36 of Cambridge arrived Sunday in Jordan at the beginning of a tour to the Middle East which will see him becoming the first British royal to make official visits to Israel and the Palestinian territories. (Photo by AHMAD ABDO / AFP) (Photo credit should read AHMAD ABDO / AFP / Getty Images)
Prince William of Britain delivers a speech at a feast in honor of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, at the residence of British Ambassador Edward Oakden (L) in The Jordanian capital, Amman, June 24, 2018. – The 36-year-old man The Duke of Cambridge arrived in Jordan at the beginning of a tour to the Middle East which will see him become the first British royal to perform official visits to Israel and the Palestinian territories. (Photo by AHMAD ABDO / AFP) (Photo credit should read AHMAD ABDO / AFP / Getty Images)
Prince William meets Jordanians working in the education sector at a party in honor of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, at the residence of the British ambassador in Amman on June 24, 2018. – Duke, 36 years old from Cambridge arrived in Jordan at the beginning of a tour to the Middle East which will see him becoming the first British royal to make official visits to Israel and the Palestinian territories . (Photo by AHMAD ABDO / AFP) (Photo credit should read AHMAD ABDO / AFP / Getty Images)
Prince William arrives at a birthday party in honor of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, at the residence of British Ambassador Edward Oakden (L) in the Jordanian capital, Amman , June 24, 2018. – The 36-year-old man The Duke of Cambridge arrived in Jordan at the beginning of a tour to the Middle East which will see him become the first British royal to make official visits to Israel and in the Palestinian territories. (Photo by AHMAD ABDO / AFP) (Photo credit should read AHMAD ABDO / AFP / Getty Images)
AMMAN, JORDAN – JUNE 24: A guard of honor for Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, while he arrives at Marka Airport at the start of his Middle East tour on June 24 2018 in Amman, Jordan. Prince William's five-day tour of the region is his most publicized trip abroad and the first official visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories occupied by a member of the monarchy on behalf of the government. (Photo by Joe Giddens-Pool / Getty Images)
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Originally from Leipzig, Alexander found his mother, who reached Britain on the eve of the Second World War and with his father, who survived the Nazi internment in Buchenwald. Many other kindertransport kids were less fortunate.
Foner, whose original name was Heinz Lichtwitz, was taken from Berlin to the Welsh city of Swansea in 1939, two years after his mother committed suicide – a victim, according to him, of despair at the gathering of Jews from Europe. .
Foner received postcards from his father until the end of the war. In mid-1942, the elder Foner told his son in a final letter issued by the Red Cross: "Our fate is very uncertain." Months later, he was murdered in Auschwitz.
The correspondence was included in the Kindertransport exhibition of Yad Vashem, as well as in Foner's memoirs, a copy of which he said he hoped to present to Prince William.
"I was a refugee child of six, and here I give a book that I wrote, to honor my father, basically, to a member of the royal family," he told Reuters. "It's a great honor for me to be able to symbolically thank the British who saved my life."
Later in the day, the prince will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin before traveling to Jaffa and Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean coast to meet young people participating in a youth-based football program.
During the visit, which Britain described as non-political, William is also expected to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank and talk to Palestinian youth.
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