Ruth Posner, a Holocaust survivor, passed away at a clinic in Switzerland that specializes in voluntary assisted death on Friday.
Posner, 96, and her husband Michael Posner, 97, were both mentally healthy according to family and friends, as reported by The Jewish Chronicle.
Neither had received a medical certificate stating they had less than six months to live, which is required by many assisted suicide clinics. The two went to Pegasos clinic, a facility that would allow them to participate the procedure without the certificates.
Posner survived the Treblinka extermination camp with her aunt, escaping the camp and being on the run for three years before settling in the United Kingdom.
Posner was an extremely successful dancer, actress, author, and Holocaust educator, having been awarded the British Empire Medal, an extremely prestigious award given to civilians recognized by the crown for their contributions to society.
'Much love, Ruth and Mike'
Posner and her husband wrote an email addressed to their family and friends to be sent out after their deaths, describing their motivation behind the choice to pursue the unconventional medical treatment.
Explaining that decision was mutual and made without external pressure, Posner and her husband wrote that they had “lived a long life together for almost 75 years. There came a point when failing senses, of sight and hearing, lack of energy, were not living but existing, that no care would improve.”
The email included a reference to Posner’s previous position at London’s Royal Shakespeare Company, with a quote from the play Hamlet stating that once the email was sent, she and her husband had “shuffled off this mortal coil.”
The couple signed the letter simply with “much love, Ruth and Mike.”
Many friends and Jewish organizations expressed their condolences following the news of Posner and her husband's passing, according to the Chronicle.