King Charles enjoys a loving moment with refugees who fled the Nazis as children on the World War II Kindertransport at the London synagogue to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the rescue mission

King Charles III enjoyed a sweet moment with Jewish refugees who fled Nazi persecution as children through Britain’s Kindertransport rescue mission as he visited a synagogue in London today.

Security was believed to be very tight at the Central United Synagogue in the West End as the 74-year-old monarch celebrated the 85th anniversary of the operation.

Charles met the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) group, as well as Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis and Lord Lieutenant for London Sir Kenneth Olisa.

He also met with synagogue president Michael Goldstein, senior rabbi Barry Lerer, AJR trustees chairman Michael Karp and AJR chief executive Michael Newman.

In a short clip, the king was heard saying, “Some familiar faces,” as he sat down with them at the table.

Charles, 74, said to a man who was sitting, “I hope you’re holding up pretty well…” before saying, “We’re still here,” causing the king to chuckle.

Charles then said: ‘You are remarkable, I was trying to remember how old you were when you arrived’, to which the man replied: ‘I’m 98’.

The monarch then said: ’98. And you were what – six or seven, eight or something?’

The king unveiled a plaque to mark the visit and met refugees who escaped via the Kindertransport before a Kristallnacht memorial service.

Those present were some of the early members of the AJR, which was founded in 1941 as a support group for Holocaust refugees and survivors in Britain.

Charles’ visit comes as many Jews in Britain are once again living in fear amid pro-Palestinian protests.

Kindertransport was founded by Britain in 1938 after Kristallnacht, with the aim of bringing up to 10,000 children from Nazi-occupied Europe to Britain.

The Central British Fund, now called World Jewish Relief, was involved in bringing and caring for the unaccompanied, mainly Jewish children.

As Prince of Wales, the King attended a reception in 2018 to mark the 80th anniversary of Kindertransport. In 2013 he also attended the 75th anniversary.

In 2014, Charles attended a performance of the Last Train to Tomorrow, composed by Carl Davis in honor of Kindertransport, which was performed at a concert at the Roundhouse in Camden, organized by AJR.

In Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, the Nazis terrorized Jews throughout Germany and Austria.

On November 9 and 10, 1938, the Nazis killed at least 91 people and destroyed 7,500 Jewish businesses.

They also burned more than 1,400 synagogues, according to Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.

Up to 30,000 Jewish men were arrested, many of whom were taken to concentration camps such as Dachau or Buchenwald.

Hundreds of others committed suicide or died as a result of severe abuse in the camps, years before the official mass deportations began.

Kristallnacht was a turning point in the escalating persecution of Jews that ultimately led to the murder of six million European Jews by the Nazis and their supporters during the Holocaust.

The king’s visit came as Queen Camilla remembered the country’s war dead in a somber ceremony at Westminster Abbey’s Field of Remembrance.

Camilla paid tribute and recognized the sacrifices of those who fought and died for their country during her first visit to the abbey since the coronation.

After prayers led by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle and the Right Reverend Anthony Ball, Rector of St Margaret’s Church, the Queen placed a small wooden cross decorated with a red poppy within a larger cross made of the flowers that were forever linked to the First World War.

After placing the cross, Camilla and hundreds of veterans fell silent at 11 a.m. as the chimes of Big Ben sounded.

After observing a two-minute silence, the Queen met Veterans Affairs Minister Johnny Mercer, as well as staff and supporters of the Poppy Factory, which organizes all the memorials at the Abbey.

Around 40,000 tributes, including symbols of all faiths, were laid by volunteers in more than 300 places across the grounds of Westminster Abbey ahead of the ceremony, as veterans and guests gathered to remember fallen comrades and loved ones.

Camilla, wearing a green Rifles jacket designed by Fiona Clare, paired with a cape by Amanda Wakeley, then walked through the crowd, stopping to observe plots and speak to representatives.

She walked around the Memorial Field and chatted with the veterans, asking them about their plans and thanking them for their service.

Among those Camilla met as she toured the plots was Robert Stockwell, 85, who served in the same regiment as her father Major Bruce Shand, 12th Royal Lancers, in Wolfenbuttel, Germany, from 1956 to 1958.

He said: ‘There are very few of the 12th Royal Lancers left so I feel I have to come and be at the Cenotaph on Sunday.’

Her visit comes as public opinion remains divided over a pro-Palestinian protest on Armistice Day, with some saying it is “absolutely appropriate” to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, while others have said they are “very be wary’ of entering central London.

Hugh Jaeger, 59, of Oxford, said he will participate in the march on Saturday because “it seems absolutely appropriate that we march on Armistice Day.”

Rob Lovelace, 35, from Cambridgeshire, who served in the British Armed Forces for 12 years, said he will be ‘very wary’ of the protest as he made a short visit to the Cenotaph on Saturday, which he said was ‘heartbreaking’ . coming from a long line of family members who served in the military.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak brought in Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley for an emergency meeting on the planned march in London on Wednesday, saying he would hold the Scotland Yard boss “accountable” if there were any problems.

Sir Mark has faced pressure from senior Tories to ban Saturday’s march, but has said the law would only allow him to do so in ‘extreme cases’.