The Duchess of Cambridge photographs Holocaust survivors and their grandchildren for powerful project

From Good Housekeeping

Earlier today, Kensington Palace announced the Duchess of Cambridge has photographed Holocaust survivors and their grandchildren as part of a project to mark the 75 years since the end of the Holocaust.

The touching photographs show survivor Steven Frank with his granddaughters, Maggie and Trixie and survivor Yvonne Bernstein with her granddaughter Chloe.

The Duchess, who is a keen photographer in her spare time, photographed the families at Kensington Palace for a project that aims to honour the victims and celebrate the lives the survivors have build for themselves in the UK, as well as remind us all to remember and help share the stories of those who suffered during the Holocaust.

Kensington Palace posted side by side photos, showing Steven with his grandchildren today and a picture of Steven as a child with his family.

Steven was sent to Westerbrok transit camp and then to Theresienstadt. Steven and his two brothers were 3 of the 93 children who survived the camp, out of the 15,000 children who were sent there.

In the picture photographed by the Duchess, Steven is seen looking straight on at the camera while his granddaughters smile at him. In his hand, Steven holds a cooking pan his mother kept with them throughout their time in the camps.

The photograph of Yvonne and her granddaughter Chloe is posted alongside a snap of Yvonne as a baby. Yvonne was a hidden child in France during the Holocaust, travelligng with her aunt and uncle and often changing homes and names. For the photograph, Yvonne brought a brooch and a 1939 ID card stamped with the letter ‘J’ which identified her as Jewish.

Kate is one of the photographers taking part in this project, which is a joint collaboration between the Jewish News, Royal Photographic Society (RPS) and Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.

The end result of this powerful project will be a 75 photograph exhibition to mark the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

Kate, who is royal patron of RPS 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."

On Instagram, Kensington Place posted a series of black and white photos of Kate laughing with Yvonne, Steven and his grandchildren on the day the photographs were taken.

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