King Charles opens up about leaving the UK on his next trip: 'I must go'

The monarch will join other dignitaries and Holocaust survivors at a commemorative service at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and Memorial next week.

"I feel I must go for the 80th anniversary," the King said during Monday's Buckingham Palace reception marking Holocaust Memorial Day.

The visit underscores the King's commitment to Holocaust remembrance, with the monarch set to meet Poland's President Andrzej Duda and members of the local community in Krakow.

During the Palace reception, Holocaust survivor Manfred Goldberg, 94, shared his conversation with the King about the upcoming visit.

"I find it almost difficult to put into words," said Goldberg, who survived concentration camps including Stutthof and a death march as a schoolboy.

Goldberg praised the King's commitment, stating: "It is an astounding affirmation by His Majesty that he fully understands the colossal injustice and atrocity that was perpetrated against Jewish people during the Holocaust."

"He, like me, is trying to spread knowledge," Goldberg added, emphasising that "silence never helps the oppressed, it always helps the oppressors."

At the Palace reception, the King witnessed a demonstration of a groundbreaking virtual reality educational programme featuring Goldberg's testimony.

The digital version of the 94-year-old Holocaust survivor, created by the Holocaust Educational Trust, can interact with schoolchildren through hundreds of pre-recorded answers.

King Charles, who serves as patron of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, engaged with the AI-generated survivor during the demonstration.

When asked by the King about humanity's key lesson, the virtual Goldberg warned that ignoring others' "injustice" was a "dangerous response."

The King expressed his gratitude to the real Goldberg, telling him: "Thank you for all the things you do, it shows how special you are."

The Palace reception also featured portraits of Holocaust survivors, including one of Goldberg, which were commissioned by Charles when he was Prince of Wales.

A special display showcased candleholders created by pupils from Cheney School in Oxford, part of the "80 Candles for 80 Years" national project.

The initiative has seen various groups, from schools to prisons, create 80 holders inspired by those persecuted by the Nazis.

The event concluded with a performance by Echo Eternal, a commemorative arts project led by CORE Education Trust in partnership with the National Youth Music Theatre.

The project encourages schools and youth organisations to create artistic responses to British Holocaust survivors' testimonies.

Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated on January 27, 1945, by soldiers of the 60th Army of the First Ukrainian Front.