Tributes have poured in for an actress and Holocaust survivor who ‘died at a Swiss suicide clinic’ alongside her husband.
Devoted couple Ruth Posner, 96, and husband Michael, 97, informed their family and friends they had taken their own lives in an email.
Neither had terminal illnesses, but the couple, from Belsize Park, north London, decided they did not want to be apart after almost 75 years married.
They addressed a message to ‘Dear family and friends’ on Tuesday and wrote, ‘So sorry not to have mentioned it, but when you receive this email, we will have “shuffled off this mortal coil”.
‘The decision was mutual and without any outside pressure. We had lived a long life and together for almost 75 years. There came a point when failing senses of sight and hearing and lack of energy were not living but existing, and that no care would improve.
‘We had an interesting and varied life, and except for the sorrow of losing Jeremy, our son. We enjoyed our time together; we tried not to regret the past, live in the present and not to expect too much from the future.
‘Much love, Ruth & Mike.’
A Campaign Against Antisemitism statement on Thursday said, ‘We are heartbroken to learn of the passing of Ruth Posner BEM, Holocaust survivor and educator, and her husband Michael.
‘Thank you, Ruth. You were an inspiration and a shining example of how to use one’s voice for good in this world. You will be greatly missed. May their memories be a blessing.’
Chief Executive of The Holocaust Educational Trust, Karen Pollock CBE, said, ‘Ruth was an extraordinary woman. She survived the Radom Ghetto, slave labour and life in hiding under a false identity. By the end of the war, Ruth and her aunt were the only surviving members of her family.
‘After a dazzling career in theatre and dance, Ruth decided to begin sharing her testimony as a response to rising levels of antisemitism in the UK. Although then in her eighties, she made it her mission to speak to as many young people as possible about her experiences during the Holocaust.
‘She hoped that the leaders of tomorrow would learn the lessons of the past. Ruth was one of a kind. Full of charisma and warmth, she left an impression on everyone she met. We will miss her.’
Ms Posner used a falsified passport to escape the Warsaw ghetto and posed as a Catholic school student during three years spent on the run with her aunt.
The extermination camp at Treblinka claimed the lives of the remainder of her family.
On her arrival in the UK aged 16, Ms Posner did not speak any English but soon began training as a dancer and enrolled at the London Contemporary Dance Theatre.
She subsequently started acting school, studying theatre arts at Hunter College in New York before gaining membership at the Royal Shakespeare Company.
The Holocaust survivor went on to become a star of both the film and TV worlds, receiving acclaim for roles in the movies Leon The Pig Farmer and Love Hurts.
She also appeared in a number of popular television series, including The Ruth Rendell Mysteries and Casualty.
Ms Posner acted for 80 years and recently played Polish princess Katya in the BBC comedy series Count Arthur Strong.
She married her British husband, Michael, in 1950, and the couple travelled the world thanks to his work as a chemist for Unilever and Unicef.
They were struck by tragedy in later life when their son Jeremy died aged 37 during his recovery from heroin addiction.
A grandchild is the couple’s surviving child.
Sonja Linden, an artistic director and playwright who was friends with the pair for 30 years, told The Times Ms Posner was ‘frail’ and her husband suffered from macular degeneration and poor hearing.
She insisted the couple remained ‘intellectually very well’ and had no severe illnesses.
Their friend added, ‘We did not know they had actually gone until we received the email, which is sad as we wanted to say goodbye.
‘They had such a lovely flat packed with art and books, and I can’t imagine them not being there.’
Ms Linden revealed Zurich’s Dignitas clinic would not assist the couple’s death because they did not receive a doctor’s note saying they had less than six months to live, as per their policy.
Instead, they ended their lives at the Pegasos clinic near Basel.
Ms Posner and Ms Linden worked together in a 2014 theatre production about her experiences during the Holocaust titled Who Do We Think We Are?
She was awarded a British Empire Medal in 2022 for her services to Holocaust education.
At least they passed away together – the way they wanted.
They took control at the end while they were still able to decide where, when and how. It was a remarkably brave and loving decision.
She was a beautiful lady, the last of the very few who understood the atrocities that man can create, but lived life to the full and with such elegance.
Frank Sinatra would have said, ‘I did it my way,’ and they did.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 