Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, laid a wreath at the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center Tuesday.
Yad Vashem was the first stop on Prince William’s itinerary in Israel during his five-day tour in the Middle East. The Duke laid a wreath at Remembrance Hall.
He voiced his horror at the sight of shoes left behind by Jews killed in a Nazi extermination camp, Reuters reported.
“Terrifying. (I’m) trying to comprehend the scale,” the Duke said.
His great-grandmother, Princess Alice, was recognized by Yad Vashem as one of the Righteous Among the Nations for her role in rescuing Jews during the Holocaust.
“There was a very moving moment in Prince William’s visit,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. “He is the great-grandson of Princess Alice. He met descendants of the family that she saved in Greece. She was there and protected a Jewish family from the Gestapo. We just met her descendants that met with him. I told him that he must be very proud of his great-grandmother for saving defenseless Jews.
“And as Prime Minister of Israel I am very proud that Jews are no longer defenseless. We have, thank G-d, an army to defend ourselves by ourselves.”