Prince Charles was moved as a Holocaust survivor showed him her Auschwitz tattoo.
Lily Ebert, 98, met the Prince of Wales at the Queen’s Gallery in London this week as new portraits were unveiled of herself and six other survivors to commemorate National Holocaust Memorial Day.
Seven Portraits: Surviving the Holocaust will be a living memorial to the six million people who lost their lives to Nazi genocide.
Charles, 73, in his role of patron of the National Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, devised the project and was joined by his wife Camilla.
Helen Aronson, Manfred Goldberg, Arek Hersh, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, Rachel Levy and Zigi Shipper have also been immortalised in an exhibition at The Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace until February 13, and then at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.
Lily was born in Bonyhad, Hungary, and was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau in July 1944 when she was aged 20 with her mother, Nina, and five siblings.
Meeting the heir, Lily rolled up the sleeve o to show the tattoo with which she was branded – A-10572 – and let him look at her pendant belonging to her mother she hid for years from the Nazis.
She said: “Meeting you, it is for everyone who lost their lives.”
“But it is a greater privilege for me,” said a clearly emotional Charles.
Bilha Weider, Lily’s daughter, added: “She was at the depths of hell, with people who didn’t even validate them, they were worse than an animal. Reduced to a number.
“And the difference to suddenly be so validated, represented, respected and painted and displayed in a palace, is amazing.”
“You had to fight. If you did not, you were killed,” Lily added.
“If I don’t speak, nobody can be heard. I am a witness.”
The prince said of the project: “My abiding hope is that this collection will act as a further guiding light for society, reminding us not only of history’s darkest days, but of humanity’s interconnectedness as we strive to create a better world.”
