President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday morning 7 Tammuz hosted a special and emotional gathering at his residence, bringing together descendants of Eugène, 11th Prince of Ligne and his wife Philippine, who saved hundreds of Jewish children in their castle (Beloeil) in Belgium during the Holocaust, along with some of the children they rescued and their families.

The House of De Ligne is a renowned European family, related to many of royal families and dynasties in Europe and around the world. The Prince and his wife were declared ‘Righteous Among the Nations’ by Yad Vashem for their bravery in 1975. Details of their story can be found here.

The delegation was led by Prince Michel De Ligne, who addressed the event and said, “This is a very important day for all of us, one that has been missing in our family since our grandparents never took the opportunity to plant a tree in the Forrest of the Righteous Among the Nations. Commemoration of what they did is a duty for each of us. It is the memory of terrible moments for each one of the children who were separated from their parents, and had to get used to a new way of life.”

He noted, “Three people knew of the presence of Jewish children in the castle, and their silence was a guarantee for the survival of these beloved children.”

He added, “Without memory a culture cannot exist, without memory there can be no civilization, no social life. I say: let us love what must be loved, let us forget what should be forgotten, but let us not forget what never must be forgotten.” And concluded, “In the name of my family Mr. President, I want to tell you how touched we are by the marks of gratitude we have received from the Jewish people, and from the Land of Israel. Long live Israel.”

Representing the survivors, Avraham Kaputka spoke and said, “In the face of the killing machine which was put to work against the Jews of Europe, people and institutions worked to save human lives.” He noted that he along with 44 other Jewish children were saved because of the De Ligne family, and added, “Six of these survivors are here today. We were alone, the separation from our parents was very hard. We did not know if or when we may ever see them again. Our acclimatization, at least at first was not easy, but in the end we blended in to our surroundings, thanks to the guides and the teachers at the children’s home. We were in a safe and quiet place while all around us raged the war. Some of the children were reunited with their parents, others never found them.

“There are no words which can express our feelings toward Prince Eugine and his wife Philippine, and all the other people that help in saving us from the threats to our lives. Today, we thank Prince Michel De Ligne for his contribution to preserving the memory of the story of our rescue.”

President Rivlin welcomed all the participants in the meeting, the De Ligne family, and the survivors and their families. He said, “I am honored to welcome you to Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, and the heart of all the Jewish people around the world.” He continued, “You are here, as one family, the descendants of the House of Ligne, and of the Jewish children they saved. You are one family. You and all the many other families, who are alive today, because of the kindness of Eugène the 11th Prince of Ligne and his wife, Philippine. Their legacy is carried by you, their descendants, and by every Jewish child they saved.”

The President said, “We have just said farewell, to the great Elie Wiesel, perhaps the greatest example of the strength of the human spirit, a man who gave the Holocaust a face, and the victims a voice. More and more, the people who saw the horrors of the Shoah with their own eyes are no longer with us. Your visit here, as the new generation of your family, and of the families who were saved shows together, you want to keep the memories alive; the memories of the victims, the memory of the darkest evil, and the memory also, of great bravery and survival”.

He concluded, “We speak of six million Jews who died in the Holocaust. Six million is a number we cannot understand. From time to time we choose one man, one story, one number on the arm of a prisoner in the camps; for us these are numbers we can understand. This is the way in which for us, death has a face. But we have other numbers; the number of Jewish children your family saved. Or another number, M-312530 the number of the file in Yad Vashem, dedicated to describe the brave action of Eugène and Philippine as Righteous Among the Nations. This is a number of hope, and courage, the face of life, the umber you can all be proud of. I want to welcome you again, please feel at home, and know you have the lasting thanks of all the Jewish people and the people of Israel.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo: Mark Neiman, GPO)