Prince William begins first British royal Israel visit by honouring Holocaust victims

27 Jun, 2018 by Helena-Reet Ennet

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NordenBladet – Prince William became the first British royal to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories, beginning his trip with a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.

At @yadvashem, Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust — The Duke of Cambridge visited the Hall of Names, heard the stories of Paul Minikes-Alexander and Henry Foner, survivors of the Holocaust and the Kindertransport, and laid a wreath in memorial of those that perished #NeverForget

A post shared by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Jun 26, 2018 at 9:38am PDT

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Yad Vashem (Hebrew: יָד וַשֵׁם‬) is Israel’s official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the dead; honoring Jews who fought against their Nazi oppressors and Gentiles who selflessly aided Jews in need; and researching the phenomenon of the Holocaust in particular and genocide in general, with the aim of avoiding such events in the future.

Established in 1953, Yad Vashem is on the western slope of Mount Herzl, also known as the Mount of Remembrance, a height in western Jerusalem, 804 meters (2,638 ft) above sea level and adjacent to the Jerusalem Forest. The memorial consists of a 180-dunam (18.0 ha; 44.5-acre) complex containing the Holocaust History Museum, memorial sites such as the Children’s Memorial and the Hall of Remembrance, the Museum of Holocaust Art, sculptures, outdoor commemorative sites such as the Valley of the Communities, a synagogue, a research institute with archives, a library, a publishing house, and an educational center, the International School/Institute for Holocaust Studies.

A core goal of Yad Vashem’s founders was to recognize non-Jews who, at personal risk and without a financial or evangelistic motive, chose to save Jews from the ongoing genocide during the Holocaust. Those recognized by Israel as Righteous Among the Nations are honored in a section of Yad Vashem known as the Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations.

Yad Vashem is the second-most-visited Israeli tourist site, after the Western Wall, with approximately one million visitors each year. It does not charge any fee for admission.

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Featured image: Prince William (YouTube)