A royal reception at the palace for survivors on Holocaust Memorial Day

His Majesty viewed each portrait in turn on Tuesday and spoke with the survivors they depict who are still alive.

The portraits include those of Helen Aronson BEM, 99; Rachel Levy BEM, 95; the late Lily Ebert, who  died  in 2024 at the age of 100; Manfred Goldberg MBE, who died in November last year at the age of 95; the late Arek Hersh MBE; and the late Zigi Shipper.

Dov Forman, speaking to the JC under the portrait of his great-grandmother, Lily Ebert, said she had “loved the portrait behind me, and loved the place it hung in, this palace.”

He continued, “She also loved going to these sorts of events and had a special connection with His Majesty.”

Dov Forman with Lily Ebert's portrait (Photo: Daniel Ben-David)[Missing Credit]

King Charles, Forman said, is in “a very dignified and genuine way, following the footsteps of his grandmother”, Princess Alice, who was recognised by Israel as Righteous Among the Nations, for saving a Jewish family. 

To see his great grandmother’s portrait hanging in Buckingham Palace, “one of the most important institutions and buildings in this country, means a great deal to me,” Forman said. “Sometimes when Jews in this country are questioning whether they have a future in the UK, they should know that we do have support from people in the highest parts of society, including His Majesty.”

Anita Lasker-Wallfisch in Buckingham Palace (Credit: Daniel Ben-David)[Missing Credit]

Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, a surviving member of the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz, told the JC how she and the King were “especially pleased” to see each other again so soon after he personally hand-delivered a 100th birthday card to her last July. The monarch sends thousands of cards to centenarians every year, but last year visited her personally to deliver the card in her home alongside a bouquet of orchids.

As Prince of Wales in the 1960s, the King had been a patron of an orchestra Lasker-Wallfisch co-founded, the English Chamber Orchestra (ECO). “He used to carry my cello for me,” she joked.

[Missing Credit]

Kitty Hart-Moxon, 99, was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau aged 16. She has, for nearly 70 years, been a pioneer of Holocaust education.

She told the King on Tuesday how she has “dedicated my whole life” to Holocaust commemoration and education, and that in that time she has “become friends” with other survivors who are all, despite varying backgrounds, united “in friendship and in our dedication to sharing our stories”.

For “as long as we [the survivors] are around, no matter how old, we want to carry on [educating].”

Mala Tribich MBE, 95, said of the King that “I wouldn’t include him among my closest friends, but I have met him now half a dozen times or so.” In times past, she continued, “he has shown real interest in us and has asked us many questions. It’s very nice to be here, and among so many people.”

The King also met the two-year-old great grandson of the late Zigi Shipper BEM, who passed away on his birthday in 2023.

King Charles III meets two-year-old Zigi, great grandson of the late Zigi Shipper, during a reception to mark Holocaust Memorial Day at Buckingham Palace on January 27, 2026 (Credit: Aaron Chown - Pool/Getty Images)Getty Images

He took time to view an artwork of Anne Frank, ‘Anne Frank: Resistance, a portrait of Anne Frank by Peter Sacks’, commissioned by the Anne Frank Trust UK, an organisation which was present on the day. Afterwards, he and Queen Camilla lit candles alongside survivor Rachel Levy BEM in a symbolic act of remembrance. 

Also attending the reception were representatives of the Holocaust Education Trust (HET) and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT).

Olivia Marks-Woldman, chief executive of the HMDT, said His Majesty “continues to be hugely dedicated” to survivors.

“To have invited survivors with their families is just very special. It also sends a very important message, that at a time of Holocaust denial, distortion and inversion, for their majesties to be hosting this reception really shows their leadership in Holocaust commemoration and their fundamental commitment to not letting it be forgotten.”