The Duchess of Cambridge photographed a series of moving portraits of two Holocaust survivors and their families in 2020 and now the public can view these photos in a new exhibit at London’s Imperial War Museum.
“Generations: Portraits of Holocaust Survivors” opened on 6 August at the museum, featuring more than 50 contemporary portraits of Holocaust survivors and their families. Catherine serves as patron of the Royal Photographic Society and all photographers involved in the exhibit are members and fellows of the Society.
The photos by the Duchess of Cambridge include portraits of Steven Frank and Yvonne Bernstein, both Holocaust survivors, along with their grandchildren.
“The harrowing atrocities of the Holocaust, which were caused by the most unthinkable evil, will forever lay heavy in our hearts,” Catherine said. “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 exhibit was delayed due to the ongoing public health crisis and was originally supposed to debut in 2020 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
According to the Imperial War Museum, “Through a series of individual and family portraits, the moving photographs in this exhibition present a group of survivors who made the UK their home after beginnings marked by unimaginable loss and trauma. While offering a space to remember and share their stories, these portraits are a celebration of the rich lives they have lived and the special legacy which their children and grandchildren will carry into the future.”
The exhibit is being held in partnership with the Royal Photographic Society, Jewish News, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and Dangoor Education.
Along with the Duchess of Cambridge’s photos, visitors to the museum can view works by photographers Frederic Aranda, Sian Bonnell, Jillian Edelstein, Arthur Edwards, Anna Fox, Joy Gregory, Jane Hilton, Tom Hunter, Karen Knorr, Carolyn Mendelsohn, Simon Roberts, Michelle Sank and Hannah Starkey.
The exhibit is free with general admission to the museum and will run until 7 January 2022.
