Kate Middleton’s heartfelt reunion with Holocaust survivors and their grandkids
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On Wednesday, Kate Middleton spent her afternoon with Holocaust survivors Steven Frank and Yvonne Bernstein.
Together with their grandchildren, the two people were photographed by the Duchess of Cambridge as part of a memorial project to highlight survivors of the Holocaust.
The photo memorial was unveiled in February 2020 on the 75th anniversary of the Second World War. Photo from Imperial War Museum.
Kate appeared excited to see Mr Frank, saying: “Hello! I want to give you a big cuddle!”
Although she was hesitant at first, Mr Frank swept her into his arms anyway, as she greeted him and his granddaughters, Maggie and Trixie.
Mr Frank said in an interview that Kate was particularly interested in getting to know his grandchildren and what they had to say. “She was asking about how they are and their schools,” he added.
In his picture, Mr Frank can be seen holding a pan. This was one of his mother's items that he had kept during his time at Westerbork transit camp. He was later sent to Theresienstadt with his brothers and mother.
To survive at the camp, his mother would do laundry for prisoners in exchange for a small amount of bread. On the pan, she would add hot water to the crumbs to make a paste. She would give each of her children a spoonful to keep them alive.
The act of selflessness from his mother and her use of the pan ultimately saved Mr Frank’s life. After surviving multiple concentration camps, he and his brothers are 3 out of the 93 camp survivors among the 15,000 children sent there.
Stephen Frank, photographed with granddaughters Maggie and Trixie. Photo by the Duchess of Cambridge.
Mrs Bernstein was photographed holding an identification card marked with a “J” on it. This was used to single her out as a Jew and separate her from the rest of the population.
Mrs Bernstein was born in Germany and was separated from her parents throughout the war when she arrived in Britain in 1945.
When Kristallnacht took place in 1938, she was advised to stay in Amsterdam and go into hiding.
After months in hiding, her father was able to get a visa to go to the UK. He worked at a jewellery business in Birmingham while Mrs Bernstein's mother worked as a vicar in Nottingham. Unfortunately, Mrs Bernstein’s mother was unable to take her daughter with her.
War broke out, and her aunt and uncles looked after Mrs Bernstein. She would change home often while living in France and hiding in a convent.
Yvonne Bernstein, photographed with her granddaughter, Chloe. Photo by the Duchess of Cambridge.
Kate Middleton on February 2020 behind the scenes with Mr Frank and Ms Bernstein. Photo by the Kensington Palace.
Kate, who is a patron of the Royal Photographic Society, produced a photography thesis for her art history degree and said that “despite the unbelievable trauma at the start of their lives”, they were “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,” she added.
The Duchess of Cambridge said that whilst she had the privilege of meeting the survivors, not everyone in the future would be able to hear such stories firsthand.
“It is vital that their memories are preserved and passed onto future generations so that what they went through will never be forgotten.”
“One of the most moving accounts I read as a young girl was 'The Diary of Anne Frank', which tells a very personal reflection of life under Nazi occupation from a child's perspective. Her sensitive and intimate interpretation of the horrors of the time was one of the underlying inspirations behind the images.”
“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,” she said.
“Their stories will stay with me forever.'
Kate's photographic work is included among a dozen leading contemporary photographers who took part in the initiative created in partnership with IWM, Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, the Royal Photographic Society, Jewish News and Dangoor Education.
The exhibit runs at the Imperial War Museum until January 9, 2022.
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