Auschwitz Survivor Eva Schloss Passes Away at Age 96 as King Charles Pays Tributes
The King has offered condolences to the step-sister of Anne Frank and Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss, who has died at the age of 96.
"We both are greatly saddened to hear of the passing of Eva Schloss," wrote the King in a tribute posted on social media.
He added, "The horrors that she experienced as a teenager are impossible to comprehend and yet she devoted the rest of her life to overcoming hatred and prejudice, promoting kindness, courage, understanding and resilience."
An Existence Dedicated to Education
Mrs Schloss was the co-founder and honorary president of the Anne Frank Trust, an organization where Queen Camilla serves as Royal Patron.
In the 1940s, Mrs Schloss and her family were chased from their home in Austria. They lived as refugees in the Netherlands before being apprehended and sent to the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp.
The Anne Frank Trust announced Mrs Schloss died in London on 3 January. "In her youth, Eva Schloss-Geiringer lived in Amsterdam, opposite Anne Frank's home," the trust noted.
Endurance and Loss
When Mrs Schloss and her mother were freed by the Soviet army in January 1945, they were barely alive. Her father and brother both died in captivity.
After being returned to Amsterdam, her mother Elfriede—called Fritzi—wed Otto Frank, the father of Anne Frank, who had also managed to survive internment by the Nazis.
An Enduring Impact
Over the past four decades, Mrs Schloss dedicated her life to trying to stop history from happening again.
- As co-founder of the Anne Frank Trust UK, she preserved Anne Frank's memory and informed people about the Holocaust.
- Frank's widely-read diary—a personal testimony of life for Jewish people under Nazi occupation—has sold more than 30 million copies.
- Mrs Schloss often journeyed across Europe, speaking to the youth in particular and promoting a message not to hate.
"I have worked very, very hard to alter people's attitudes," Mrs Schloss remarked in an interview. "Each person you convince not to be racist is a positive."
Subsequent Years
In 1951, Mrs Schloss moved to London to study photography. There she met her husband, Zvi Schloss, a German Jew who had escaped to Palestine during the war.
The couple made London their home and became UK citizens. Mr Schloss passed away in London in 2016. They are survived by their daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren.
