Holocaust Survivor Ruth Posner and Husband Die at Swiss Clinic After 75 Years Together

Ruth Posner, a 96-year-old Holocaust survivor and accomplished actress, and her husband Michael, 97, chose to end their lives together at a Swiss clinic after nearly 75 years of marriage, citing a desire to avoid merely existing amid failing health and senses. The couple, from Belsize Park, north London, were not terminally ill but decided mutually to take this step, as explained in an email to loved ones announcing their passing. Posner survived the Warsaw Ghetto, losing most of her family in the Holocaust, and later became a prominent actress with the Royal Shakespeare Company and in television. Michael, a chemist born in Belfast, had a career with Unilever and UNICEF, and the couple lived abroad before settling in the UK. They endured the sorrow of losing their son at 37 and are survived by a grandson. Tributes have praised Ruth Posner as an inspirational figure who dedicated her later years to Holocaust education and combating antisemitism.