It’s no secret that the Duchess of Cambridge is a keen photographer as she regularly shares snaps with the public that she has taken of her three young children; Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
But now, Catherine has teamed her skills behind the camera with her official duties as she was tasked with taking photographs of Holocaust survivors alongside their children and grandchildren as part of a new project to mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2020 on Monday.
The duchess took two poignant photographs which will go on display later this year as part of a new exhibition, which will feature 75 images of people who survived the Holocaust and their loved ones. Speaking about the project, she said: “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 first of Catherine’s images shows Steven Frank with his granddaughters Maggie and Trixie. Steven, along with his two brothers, was sent to was sent to Westerbork transit camp and then on to Theresienstadt. They were three of only 93 children who survived the camp, out of 15,000 children sent there.
The second photograph taken by Catherine – who is Patron of the Royal Photographic Society – shows Yvonne Bernstein with her granddaughter Chloe. The duchess said she wanted to make the portraits “deeply personal”, therefore both images include items of personal significance, such as a
According to Kensington Palace: “Yvonne was a hidden child in France throughout most of the Holocaust, travelling in the care of her aunt and uncle and frequently changing homes and names.”
Catherine said: “The harrowing atrocities of the Holocaust, which were caused by the most unthinkable evil, will forever lay heavy in our hearts. 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. 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.
“Whilst I have been lucky enough to meet two of the now very few survivors, I recognise not everyone in the future will be able to hear these stories first hand. 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 exhibition is a collaboration between Holocaust Memorial Day, Jewish News UK and the Royal Photographic Society. The other images in the collection will be taken by fellows of the Royal Photographic Society.
A statement published by Kensington Palace on social media read: “The Duchess of Cambridge has taken two photographs of Holocaust survivors and their grandchildren as part of a project by @HMD_UK, @JewishNewsUK and @The_RPS to mark the 75 years since the end of the Holocaust.
“The project aims to honour the victims of the Holocaust and to celebrate the lives that survivors have built in the UK, whilst also reminding everyone of their own responsibility to remember and help to share the stories of those who endured Nazi persecution.”