Kate Middleton photographs Holocaust survivors

Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, has photographed Holocaust survivors to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

Four survivors, alongside their children and grand-children, feature in the emotive portraits to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day on Monday, reports metro.co.uk.

Each of the images depict the special connection between a survivor and younger generations of their family, who will carry the legacy of their grandparents.

The Duchess, who was among photographers behind the lens, described the survivors she photographed as "two of the most life-affirming people that I have had the privilege to meet".

She was referring to 84-year-old Steven Frank, originally from Amsterdam, who was sent to multiple concentration camps during his childhood. Dark, moving images show the survivor alongside his two grand-daughters.

Middleton's other portrait captures 82-year-old Yvonne Bernstein, originally from Germany, also pictured with her grand-daughter, aged 11. During the Holocaust, Yvonne was kept in hiding as a child in France.

The photographs were taken at Kensington Palace earlier this month, and because both survivors have strong links to the Netherlands, Middleton was inspired by 17th century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, who specialised in interior domestic scenes, said the metro.co.uk report.

The photographs will be part of an exhibition which opens later this year, bringing together 75 powerful images of survivors and their family members.

Speaking about the project, the Duchess, who is Royal Photographic Society patron, said: "The harrowing atrocities of the Holocaust, which were caused by the most unthinkable evil, will forever lay heavy in our hearts.

"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."