Overview

• Ruth Posner, 96, and Michael Posner, 97, informed relatives in a pre‑scheduled email that they would have “shuffled off this mortal coil” after attending a Swiss clinic.
• The couple were not terminally ill and wrote that failing sight, hearing and energy left them “just existing,” adding they could not bear to be separated after nearly 75 years of marriage.
• A longtime friend, Julia Pascal, now alleges Ruth was emotionally controlled by Michael and questions whether the decision was truly independent, despite the email stating there was no outside pressure.
• Another close friend, playwright Sonja Linden, said both were intellectually well, had planned the step about a year earlier, and are believed to have used the Pegasos clinic after Dignitas would not assist.
• Tributes from the Campaign Against Antisemitism and the Holocaust Educational Trust highlight Posner’s legacy as a survivor, actor and 2022 BEM honouree, as debate continues over UK proposals limiting assisted dying to the terminally ill.