The Museum is mourning the loss of Eva Schloss, a Holocaust survivor and tireless educator, who passed away over the weekend at the age of 96.
In 2017, Eva participated in the Museum’s New Dimensions in Testimony project, created in collaboration with the USC Shoah Foundation. This groundbreaking initiative used interactive digital technology to preserve survivor testimonies, allowing audiences to ask questions and receive recorded responses. Through this project, Eva’s voice and experiences will continue to educate future generations. Photographs from the event show Eva attending the Museum presentation with grace and strength.
Eva Schloss, born Eva Geiringer in Vienna, Austria, in 1929, was Jewish. Her childhood was profoundly shaped by the rise of Nazism. In 1938, when Nazi Germany annexed Austria, Eva and her family fled the growing persecution and eventually settled in Amsterdam. There, Eva became friends with a girl her own age—Anne Frank.
In 1942, after the Nazis occupied the Netherlands, the Geiringer family went into hiding to escape deportation. For two years they lived in fear, relying on the help of others. In 1944, tragedy struck when the Dutch woman who was hiding them betrayed the family to the Nazis. Eva, her parents, and her brother were arrested and deported—first to Westerbork Concentration Camp, and later to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
While Eva and her mother Fritzi survived the horrors of the camps, her father and brother were sent to Mauthausen Concentration Camp, where they were murdered. Their loss marked Eva’s life forever.
After the war, Eva and her mother returned to Amsterdam, where they reconnected with Otto Frank, Anne Frank’s father and the sole survivor of his immediate family. Both Otto and Fritzi had lost their spouses during the Holocaust. They later married, making Eva the posthumous stepsister of Anne Frank.
In later years, Eva moved to London, where she married Zvi Schloss. Together they raised three daughters. Eva dedicated much of her life to Holocaust education, speaking to students and audiences around the world about her experiences, the dangers of hatred, and the importance of remembrance.
Eva Schloss leaves behind a powerful legacy of resilience, testimony, and moral courage. Through her words and recorded stories, her message will continue to live on.
May Eva’s memory be a blessing.
0 Comments