The Prince and Princess of Wales have released an emotional message paying tribute to Holocaust survivor, Manfred Goldberg, following his death, aged 95. Prince William and Princess Kate took to their official X account to say they were “deeply saddened” to hear of his passing.
Their message, which was personally signed by both of them, read: “We are deeply saddened by the passing of Manfred Goldberg. Having joined him on a visit to Stutthof, we witnessed first-hand his extraordinary strength, grace and dedication to sharing his story. His tireless work to educate young people about the Holocaust will never be forgotten. W & C.” It marks a poignant message from the future King and Queen, who had previously met Mr Goldberg.
The Holocaust survivor championed its education and, aside from William and Kate, had met with the King and Sir Keir Starmer.
He was made an MBE by the King at Clarence House in September for his services to Holocaust remembrance and education.
Mr Goldberg, who was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Kassel, Germany, on April 21, 1930, was deported by the Nazis to the Riga Ghetto in Latvia in December 1941 along with his mother, Rosa, and younger brother, Herman.
As the Red Army approached Riga in August 1944, surviving prisoners were moved to Stutthof concentration camp, near Gdansk in Poland.
Mr Goldberg spent more than eight months as a slave worker in Stutthof, where tens of thousands of Jews were killed, and its subcamps, including Stolp and Burggraben, before being liberated by the British Army in May 1945, aged 15.
He came to Britain with his mother in September 1946 to be reunited with his father, Baruch, who had escaped in August 1939, just days before the Second World War began, having secured a visa through the efforts of British diplomat Frank Foley.
After learning English, Mr Goldberg completed an engineering degree and went on to share the story of what happened to him, his family and the Jews of Europe.
Mr Goldberg, who was married with four sons, several grandchildren and a great-grandchild, returned to Germany in 2018 to lay a memorial stone for Herman, who was killed during the Holocaust.