B’nai B’rith International appreciates Monaco’s Prince Albert II’s appeal for forgiveness for his government’s role in the rounding up and deportation of at least 66 Jews during the Holocaust.

On the night of August 27, 1942, the government of Monaco surrendered to the demands of the Nazi puppet regime in France, the Vichy government, and allowed its police to raid Jewish homes.

Last week, on Aug. 27, Albert apologized before members of the Jewish community and unveiled a monument engraved with the names of those Monegasque Jews who perished in the Holocaust. Out of the 66 who were deported, only 9 survived.  

B’nai B’rith welcomes the prince’s first official acknowledgement of Monegasque complicity in the Holocaust. The damage done by his government is certainly irreparable, but admission of the crime is necessary if true introspection and healing are to be had.