Paying tribute to HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

An extraordinary session of the Board of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation (IRWF) was held last Friday to pay tribute to HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who passed away on April 9, 2021, at the age of 99.

In a joint statement by Mr. Eduardo Eurnekian and Mr. Boruj Tenembaum, Chairman and Founder respectively of the IRWF, the ONG "conveys its deepest condolences to HM Queen Elizabeth, to the Royal Family and to people of the United Kingdom on the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, a remarkable human being who was involved in advancing charitable causes during his 70 years of public service".

The deceased Duke of Edinburgh was the son of a remarkable woman, Princess Alice of Battenberg, who during the Holocaust in Greece, gave refuge at her own residence in Athens to Rachel Cohen and her children, thus saving the lives of this Jewish family.

Princess Alice's apartment was situated close to the Gestapo headquarters in Athens and oftentimes she was interrogated by the Germans, who were suspicious of her activities. In all cases she exaggerated her deafness in order to ignore the questions of the Nazis.

Prince Alice was officially recognized as Righteous among the Nations in 1993. A year later, Prince Philip and his sister, Princess Sophie of Hanover visited Yad Vashem and planted a tree in honor of their mother, who died in 1969 and is buried in Jerusalem

On that occasion, Prince Philip said:

"I suspect that it never occurred to her that her action was in any way special. She was a person with deep religious faith and she would have considered it to be a totally human action to fellow human beings in distress."




Prince PHilip and his mother, Prince Alice