Prince William reflected on the “terrifying” scale of the Holocaust during a visit to the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem on Tuesday, calling the experience there “profoundly moving”.

Prince William the Duke of Cambridge arrived at the Holocaust museum Tuesday morning, as part of the British royal family’s first ever official state visit to Israel.

During the visit, Prince William said he had difficulty in absorbing the vastness of the destruction during the Nazi genocide.

“Terrifying,” Prince William said while observing the mounds of shoes left by victims of the Holocaust.

“I’m trying to comprehend the scale.”

After the tour of the museum, Prince William laid a wreath in honor of the victims, and signed the museum’s guestbook, writing that the trip had been a “profoundly moving experience”.

““It has been a profoundly moving experience to visit Yad Vashem today. It is almost impossible to comprehend this appalling event in history. Every name, photograph and memory recorded here is a tragic reminder of the loss suffered by the Jewish people. The story of the Holocaust is one of darkness and despair, questioning humanity itself.”

The Prince was escorted during the visit by Britain’s Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis. “It is truly a privilege to join HRH The Duke of Cambridge on the first day of his historic visit to The State of Israel,” the rabbi tweeted.