Prince William tells Holocaust survivor trip to concentration camp was an 'eyeopener'
THE Duke of Cambridge today told a Holocaust survivor a trip to a concentration camp was an “eyeopening and sobering” experience.
He revealed his feelings to French Resistance fighter Freddie Knoller, 96, who survived Nazi death camps including Auschwitz, when they met at London’s Imperial War Museum.
In July the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge toured Stutthof, a former Nazi camp in Poland where 65,000 people were killed including 28,000 Jews.
Mr Knoller presented William with a copy of his book, Living With The Enemy, the story of his war experiences.
The Duke said: “Catherine and I were in Poland earlier this year. We had a tour around the camp. It was very eye-opening, very sobering.”
Mr Knoller showed a badge he used to trick the Germans and escape being murdered in 1945 while on a death march from Auschwitz.
He replaced his yellow cloth badge – used to identify Jews – with the badge from the uniform of a dead French political prisoner.
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Catherine and I were in Poland earlier this year. We had a tour around the camp. It was very eye-opening, very sobering
his helped him survive internment at Dora camp, where he was a slave labourer. He finished the war in Bergen-Belsen and was freed by British troops.
Mr Knoller said: “I showed the prince my striped uniform. This saved my life because it doesn’t show the number of a Jew but of a French political prisoner. ”
He added: “I don’t want the world to forget that six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis. This is why I tell the story.”
William also met war veterans Ted Cordery, 94, and John Harrison, 103, who served on the cruiser Belfast, which is part of the Imperial War Museum collection.