The Duchess of Cambridge has published portraits she has taken of Holocaust survivors as part of a project with the Royal Photographic Society and Holocaust Memorial Day Trust to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

Catherine, who is patron of the RPS, took pictures of two survivors alongside their grandchildren which were released on Monday, the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

She said: “The harrowing atrocities of the Holocaust, which were caused by the most unthinkable evil, will forever lay heavy in our hearts.  Yet it is so often through the most unimaginable adversity that the most remarkable people flourish.”

The project, which is a collaboration between the Jewish News, the RPS and HMDT will be part of a new exhibition which will open later this year that will bringing together 75 moving images of survivors and their family members to mark 75 years since the end of the Holocaust.

The future Queen took the photograph of 84-year-old Steven Frank, originally from Amsterdam, who survived several concentration camps as a child.

He is pictured alongside his granddaughters Maggie and Trixie Fleet, aged 15 and 13.

Another survivor photographed by Catherine was Yvonne Bernstein, who was a hidden child in France throughout most of the Holocaust.

Ms Bernstein, who is originally from Germany can be seen alongside her granddaughter Chloe Wright, aged 11.

“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 Duchess said of her pictures.

“They look back on their experiences with sadness but also with gratitude that they were some of the lucky few to make it through. Their stories will stay with me forever.”

She said she recognised that she was “lucky enough to meet two of the now very few survivors” and that “not everyone in the future will be able to hear these stories first hand.

"It is vital that their memories are preserved and passed on to 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.”

She added: “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.”

Mr Frank said: “I would hope that the people who look at these pictures not only look at the beauty of the photography, but they will also think of the people behind the photos and their families that they lost in the Holocaust.”

His granddaughter Trixie said it was “amazing” to see the Duchess of Cambridge “really interested in our family and in Opa’s story, and the items we brought with us”.

Her sister Maggie said: “I think it helped put into perspective that he’s just our Opa – he’s our grandpa as well as a Holocaust survivor. It’s important to tell the story so it doesn’t happen again.”

Others photographed for the project include Joan Salter, 79, who fled the Nazis as a young child. She is photographed with her husband Martin and her daughter Shelley. The portrait was taken by Frederic Aranda.

John Hajdu, 82, who survived the Budapest Ghetto was photographed with his grandson Zac, aged four. His photo was taken by Jillian Edelstein.

Mrs Salter said: “When I give my talks I show family photos, because I think it’s so important for them to see us as human beings, especially if they have just seen images of people in camps.

"I think the fact that the exhibition will include so many different experiences is so important – it will give a much broader idea of what it was like during the Holocaust rather than just hearing from one survivor.”

Olivia Marks-Woldman, chief executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, said: “The survivors featured in these portraits all have very different stories, but each of their lives has been fundamentally changed by the trauma and loss they experienced.

"What connects these individuals is that, after systematic persecution, they all made the UK their home and the country has been enriched by them and their families."

Dr Alan Hodgson, president of the Royal Photographic Society said the portraits "provide a direct connection to those who were witnesses to the horrors perpetrated by the Nazi regime and, crucially, bring in their children and grandchildren who will be so important in ensuring that their stories and experiences remain relevant and real to contemporary society.”

Justin Cohen, co-publisher of Jewish News, said: “Each of these striking photographs remind us of the strength of so many survivors in building new lives and families after coming face to face with Nazi evil, but also of the millions who were murdered and the many more millions of children and grandchildren who were never even born.

The duchess took the photographs to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

“With fewer survivors with us to relay their experiences, the work of the Duchess and the other photographers will help ensure the truth is never forgotten, and its lessons for fighting hate today are brought to the fore.”