In this photo taken by the Duchess of Cambridge, Steven Frank BEM, 84, originally from Amsterdam, who survived multiple concentration camps as a child, is pictured alongside his granddaughters Maggie and Trixie Fleet. (Photo / AP)

Duchess of Cambridge unveils portraits for Holocaust Memorial Day

Author: Newstalk ZB, AP,
Publish Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2020, 11:34AM

The Duchess of Cambridge is participating in Holocaust Memorial Day observances with photographs she took of survivors for an exhibition marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The former Kate Middleton, an avid photo buff, described the survivors in her portraits as "two of the most life-affirming people that I have had the privilege to meet.'' The photos were released Sunday night.

The first image is of 84-year-old Steven Frank, originally from Amsterdam The camp survivor is pictured alongside his granddaughters Maggie and Trixie Fleet, aged 15 and 13.

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The Duchess of Cambridge with Holocaust survivor Yvonne Bernstein, who she photographed as part of a special project for Holocaust Memorial Day. “I had a great model,” The Duchess said when she was reunited with Yvonne after last night’s Holocaust Memorial Ceremony. The Duke & Duchess had attended the ceremony to pay their respects to those who were killed in the Holocaust and more recent genocides at the ceremony. Holocaust Memorial Day commemorates the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, alongside the millions of other people killed under Nazi persecution and in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. The chosen date is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration camp. This year marks 75 year since the liberation of the camp by the Soviet Union in 1945. Over 1.1 million people were murdered at this site, and over 90% of them were Jewish. During the ceremony, The Duke gave a reading of a letter written about his great-grandmother Princess Alice, who helped to hide her Jewish friends, the Cohens, in her home. Six candles of remembrance were lit at the front of the ceremony by survivors of the Holocaust and recent genocides to represent the 6 million Jews who lost their lives.

A post shared by HRH The Duchess of Cambridge (@katemidleton) on Jan 27, 2020 at 2:20pm PST

The other image is that of 82-year-old Yvonne Bernstein, originally from Germany, who hid in France. She is pictured with her granddaughter Chloe Wright, aged 11.

The portraits will be part of an exhibition that will open later this year.

"Whilst I have been lucky enough to meet two of the now very few survivors, I recognize not everyone in the future will be able to hear these stories first hand,'' the duchess said in a statement. "It is vital that their memories are preserved and passed on to future generations, so that what they went through will never be forgotten.''

The images, taken at Kensington Palace earlier this month, are a part of a project involving the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, the Jewish News and the Royal Photographic Society.