Overview

• The long-married couple informed loved ones via a pre-written email delivered Tuesday stating they had "shuffled off this mortal coil."
• Neither was terminally ill, and their message described failing senses and dwindling energy as reasons they no longer wished to "just exist."
• A friend said Dignitas in Zurich would not assist without a doctor’s confirmation of a prognosis under six months, so the pair went to the Pegasos clinic near Basel.
• Playwright Julia Pascal now claims Ruth was emotionally controlled by her husband and may not have acted entirely freely, while close friend Sonja Linden maintains the decision was mutual; no formal inquiry has been reported.
• Tributes highlighted Ruth Posner’s Holocaust testimony and 2022 BEM for Holocaust education, as debate continues over UK proposals that would restrict assisted dying to terminally ill adults.