Friday, January 16, 2015

Grand Ducal Family to Honour Nazi Victims

Later this month, the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess as well as the Hereditary Grand Duke and the Hereditary Grand Duchess will travel to Poland for commemoration events in Auschwitz and Slonsk. Both couples will be accompanied by Prime Minister Xavier Bettel.

On January 27, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie will be among the guests for a commemoration event marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. More than 230 Luxembourgish jews deported to Poland by the Nazis died at the camp. Another 31 Luxembourgish residents were also deported to Auschwitz, a third of which were also killed.

Three days later, on January 30, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria-Teresa will visit Slonsk, the place of the Sonnenburg Massacre. During the night from January 30 to 31, 1945, as Allied and Russian forces were approaching German borders, the Sonnenburg prison became the site of a brutal mass murder in which 91 Luxembourg citizens were killed. The Luxembourgish detainees had been imprisoned for refusing the join the German Wehrmacht (armed forces).

2 comments:

  1. Slonsk - Luxembourgish Katyn

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  2. I'm so excited, it's a very special day and time for us in Poland and in Oświęcim (Auschwitz) will be so much royal guests.

    ksieznaczka-victoria.blogspot.com

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