The Royal Prince issued a warning saying “the lessons of the Second World War are in danger of being forgotten”. The Pri...
The Royal Prince issued a warning saying “the lessons of the Second World War are in danger of being forgotten”.
The Prince of Wales, Charles regarded the “indescribable persecution” of Ben Helfgott, a Holocaust survivor and an Olympic weightlifting champion, when he spoke in front of his audience on a fundraiser for a humanitarian agency – World Jewish Relief .
Charles, said that his grandmother who used to shelter Jewish families during the war, inspired him to do his work with a range of faiths.
He addressed the crowd, after he was appointed patron of the charity in 2015 saying, “The work of World Jewish Relief enables us to rally together to do what we can to support people practically, emotionally and spiritually” continuing “Particularly at a time when the horrific lessons of the last war seem to be in increasing danger of being forgotten”.
Prince Charles said that the weightlifting champion’s experience may serve as a reminder when he said : “To meet Ben, and others who, like him, have endured indescribable persecution, is to be reminded of the danger of forgetting the lessons of the past.”
He congratulated the charity on the amazing work that it has done with aiding the impoverished Jews in Ukraine and those who managed to escape the violent deeds in Syria and Rwanda.
The Prince said:“It is about supporting local communities with what they feel they need and not about imposing solutions from outside.” and later added “World Jewish Relief shows us how vital it is to learn lessons from the horrors of the past”
The charity’s director of communications, Rafi Cooper said for The Independent: “His Royal Highness provides a timely reminder that we need to reach within and beyond our own community, regardless of faith – a message that our Jewish values and history teach us is essential to avoid the horrors of the past being repeated.”
Some of the people in the crowd saw this reference of “the horrific lessons of the last war” that the Prince made, as a “thinly-veiled criticism” of President Trump. Recently Trump has been condemned on a global level for his immigration ban.
Just this previous week, an executive order was signed, by the billionaire property developer, which suspended the US refugee admissions system for 120 days. This means end to the Syrian refugee program and banned entry for people from seven Muslim-majority countries.
Last year, Prince Charles warned the nation of the “rise of populism” which was really in reference to Donald Trump’s election and the rise of the far-right in Europe. He named no one but said there were “deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930’s” and “evil” mistreatment was continually occurring on the basis of religion only.
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