Although her children might be young, Kate Middleton is already teaching them about a dark period in history, the Holocaust. The Duchess of Cambridge made the revelation while speaking with survivors at the UK Holocaust Memorial Day Commemorative Ceremony on Monday, January 26. "We were talking to the children about it earlier today," Kate told Mala Tribich, who asked about her family. "But we have to be, you know, for a six year old…the interpretation," the Duchess added, suggesting that she explained the Holocaust in a way that is appropriate for a child of Prince George 's age. The Cambridges are also parents to Princess Charlotte , four, and Prince Louis, one.
© Getty ImagesKate proceeded to ask Mala how she tells her story to schoolchildren. "Do your experiences resonate with them?” she asked. "Do they feel they can do something for their generation?" Kate continued, “So many families are totally torn apart by the trauma and how that plays out over the generations.” After her exchange with the Duchess, Mala shared, “[Kate] was asking what impact it has. It brings them closer to the history. “I told her I follow her and her lovely children in the news and she said 'I have told the children'. They have made them aware of it [the Holocaust]. I suppose she tells it in the measure that it’s applicable to that age."
Kate also spoke with 89-year-old survivor Manfred Goldberg, who told the royal mom of three that people found it hard to understand how six million Jewish people were killed. "When you hear the stories of an individual it becomes easier to understand this better. And it has taken a while for everybody to be able to speak," the Duchess said. "It’s hard to stand up there and do that. “I’m really interested in intergenerational trauma and how it affects a family. It’s so important."
© Getty ImagesDuring the moving ceremony, Prince William honored his paternal great-grandmother, Princess Alice . The Duke read a letter that was written to Prince Philip’s late mother, who is famed for having sheltered a Jewish family in Nazi-occupied Greece. Kate was reportedly emotional during the reading. Aside from the service on Monday, the Duchess marked the 75th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust by photographing two survivors and their respective grandchildren . “The harrowing atrocities of the Holocaust, which were caused by the most unthinkable evil, will forever lay heavy in our hearts. Yet it is so often through the most unimaginable adversity that the most remarkable people flourish,” she said in a statement. “Despite unbelievable trauma at the start of their lives, Yvonne Bernstein and Steven Frank are two of the most life-affirming people that I have had the privilege to meet. They look back on their experiences with sadness but also with gratitude that they were some of the lucky few to make it through. Their stories will stay with me forever.”
