Kate Middleton Shares Moving Portraits She Took Of Holocaust Survivors

Kate Middleton on Sunday shared two moving photographs she took of Holocaust survivors and their grandchildren, in remembrance of the 75th anniversary of the Holocaust.

One portrait features Steven Frank alongside his granddaughters, Maggie and Trixie, according to Kensington Palace’s Instagram account. The second portrait is of Yvonne Bernstein and her granddaughter, Chloe.

The Duchess of Cambridge said in the post that it was a “true honour” to photograph her subjects. Frank, who survived two camps, and Bernstein, who was hidden while a child in France, both moved to Britain in the 1940s. Both survivors brought personal items with them to be included in the pictures.

“The harrowing atrocities of the Holocaust, which were caused by the most unthinkable evil, will forever lay heavy in our hearts,” Kate said in another Instagram post that showed her behind-the-scenes work with Frank and Bernstein.

“Yet it is so often through the most unimaginable adversity that the most remarkable people flourish. Despite unbelievable trauma at the start of their lives, Yvonne Bernstein and Steven Frank are two of the most life-affirming people that I have had the privilege to meet,” the duchess added.

“They look back on their experiences with sadness but also with gratitude that they were some of the lucky few to make it through. Their stories will stay with me forever.”

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As part of the commemorations for the 75th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust, The Duchess of Cambridge has taken photographs of two Holocaust survivors with their grandchildren. The first photograph features Steven Frank with his granddaughters, Maggie and Trixie. Alongside his mother and brothers, Steven was sent to Westerbork transit camp then to Theresienstadt. Steven and his brothers were 3 of only 93 children who survived the camp - 15,000 children were sent there. The Duchess also photographed Yvonne Bernstein with her granddaughter Chloe. Yvonne was a hidden child in France, travelling in the care of her aunt and uncle and frequently changing homes and names. The Duchess said: “I wanted to make the portraits deeply personal to Yvonne and Steven – a celebration of family and the life that they have built since they both arrived in Britain in the 1940s. The families brought items of personal significance with them which are included in the photographs. It was a true honour to have been asked to participate in this project and I hope in some way Yvonne and Steven’s memories will be kept alive as they pass the baton to the next generation.” The portraits will form part of a new exhibition opening later this year by @holocaustmemorialdaytrust, Jewish News and @royalphotographicsociety , which will feature 75 images of survivors and their family members. The exhibition will honour the victims of the Holocaust and celebrate the full lives that survivors have built in the UK, whilst inspiring people to consider their own responsibility to remember and share the stories of those who endured Nazi persecution. Portraits ©The Duchess of Cambridge

Both portraits will be included in a new exhibit opening later this year, as part of a partnership between the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, Jewish News and the Royal Photographic Society, of which Kate is patron, having taken the role over from the queen in 2019.

Getty Images royal photographer Chris Jackson commented on Kate’s photographs on Instagram saying that “it’s clear her passion for photography is something that is incredibly important to her.”

Matt Porteous, who often photographs the royals, also praised the duchess as a “talented photographer” in a reply to a fan on the Kensington Palace Instagram account.

On Monday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended the U.K. Holocaust Memorial Day Commemorative Ceremony, held at Westminster in London. While there, Kate connected with Bernstein, and the two shared a laugh.

During the ceremony, Prince William read aloud a letter by his great-grandmother, Princess Alice, who helped shelter her Jewish friends, the Cohens, during the Second World War while the Nazis occupied Greece. At the time, Princess Alice lived in Athens.

“What Princess Alice did, she saved the whole family,” Evy Cohen, whose grandmother, aunt and uncle were saved by the royal, told The Guardian in 2019. “Clearly I wouldn’t be alive, I wouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t be born if it hadn’t been for her.”

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