Les cérémonies de commémoration des 75 ans de la libération du camp d’Auschwitz se sont poursuivies lundi soir à Londres. Lors d’un événement dédié à Westminster, le prince William et Kate Middleton ont rendu un hommage très personnel aux rescapés de la Shoah.

Non sans émotion, Kate Middleton et son mari le prince William ont eux aussi commémoré les 75 ans de la libération du camp d’Auschwitz. Le 27 janvier 2020, le duc et la duchesse de Cambridge se sont rendus au Westminster Central Hall de Londres pour une cérémonie lors de laquelle ils ont rencontré des survivants des camps d’extermination. Le Premier ministre britannique Boris Johnson était également présent.

Le prince William a pris la parole lundi soir, pour lire une lettre écrite par une amie de son arrière-grand-mère la princesse Alice, la mère du prince Philip. Durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, celle-ci a caché une mère et sa fille dans sa maison d’Athènes : « Quand la persécution des juifs par les Allemands a commencé, la princesse Alice a demandé à être informée du sort de la famille Cohen (…). La princesse a décidé d’offrir son hospitalité aux deux femmes, de les cacher chez elle en dépit du danger encouru, a ainsi déclaré le duc de Cambridge. Les membres de la famille Cohen ont quitté la résidence trois semaines après la Libération, conscients que la générosité et le courage de la princesse les avaient épargnés des nazis. » La princesse Alice est morte bien des années plus tard, en 1969, au palais de Buckingham.

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As part of the commemorations for the 75th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust, The Duchess of Cambridge has taken photographs of two Holocaust survivors with their grandchildren. The first photograph features Steven Frank with his granddaughters, Maggie and Trixie. Alongside his mother and brothers, Steven was sent to Westerbork transit camp then to Theresienstadt. Steven and his brothers were 3 of only 93 children who survived the camp – 15,000 children were sent there. The Duchess also photographed Yvonne Bernstein with her granddaughter Chloe. Yvonne was a hidden child in France, travelling in the care of her aunt and uncle and frequently changing homes and names. The Duchess said: “I wanted to make the portraits deeply personal to Yvonne and Steven – a celebration of family and the life that they have built since they both arrived in Britain in the 1940s. The families brought items of personal significance with them which are included in the photographs. It was a true honour to have been asked to participate in this project and I hope in some way Yvonne and Steven’s memories will be kept alive as they pass the baton to the next generation.” The portraits will form part of a new exhibition opening later this year by @holocaustmemorialdaytrust, Jewish News and @royalphotographicsociety , which will feature 75 images of survivors and their family members. The exhibition will honour the victims of the Holocaust and celebrate the full lives that survivors have built in the UK, whilst inspiring people to consider their own responsibility to remember and share the stories of those who endured Nazi persecution. Portraits ©The Duchess of Cambridge

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De son côté, Kate Middleton a retrouvé avec plaisir la Française Yvonne Bernstein, enfant cachée durant la guerre, qu’elle avait photographiée au palais de Kensington plus tôt ce mois-ci. Photographe amateur, la duchesse s’est inspirée des tableaux du peintre néerlandais Vermeer pour réaliser deux portraits de deux rescapés de l’Holocauste avec leurs petits-enfants. Deux clichés qui feront partie d’une prochaine exposition organisée par le Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. Lundi soir, la Britannique de 38 ans a également confié avoir déjà parlé du génocide des juifs à ses enfants, George (6 ans), Charlotte (4 ans) et Louis (1 an).

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Today is #HolocaustMemorialDay, which takes place each year on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, and honours survivors of the Holocaust, Nazi Persecution, and subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. Earlier this month, The Duchess of Cambridge met two Holocaust survivors, Steven Frank and Yvonne Bernstein, as she took photographs for a project by @holocaustmemorialdaytrust, Jewish News and @royalphotographicsociety to mark 75 years since the end of the Holocaust. The Duchess’s photographs will be included in an exhibition of 75 images of survivors and their family members, which will open later this year. “The harrowing atrocities of the Holocaust, which were caused by the most unthinkable evil, will forever lay heavy in our hearts. Yet it is so often through the most unimaginable adversity that the most remarkable people flourish. Despite unbelievable trauma at the start of their lives, Yvonne Bernstein and Steven Frank are two of the most life-affirming people that I have had the privilege to meet. They look back on their experiences with sadness but also with gratitude that they were some of the lucky few to make it through. Their stories will stay with me forever.” – The Duchess of Cambridge Photographs © Kensington Palace

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