Holocaust Camp Survivor Eva Schloss Dies at 96 Years Old as King Charles Pays Tributes

The King has led tributes to the step-sister of Anne Frank and Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss, who passed away at the age of 96.

He continued, "The horrors that she experienced as a young woman are difficult to fathom and yet she devoted the remainder of her life to fighting hatred and prejudice, promoting kindness, courage, understanding and resilience."

A Life Committed to Awareness

Mrs Schloss was the founding member 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 captured and deported to the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp.

The Anne Frank Trust said Mrs Schloss died in London on 3 January. "In her youth, Eva Schloss-Geiringer resided in Amsterdam, near Anne Frank's home," the trust stated.

Endurance and Loss

By the time Mrs Schloss and her mother were liberated by the Soviet army in January 1945, they were barely alive. Her brother and father both died in the camps.

After being returned to Amsterdam, her mother Elfriede—known as Fritzi—wed Otto Frank, the father of Anne Frank, who had also survived imprisonment by the Nazis.

A Lasting Legacy

Over the past four decades, Mrs Schloss devoted her efforts to trying to stop history from happening again.

• As co-founder of the Anne Frank Trust UK, she preserved Anne Frank's memory and educated people about the Holocaust.
• Frank's internationally famous diary—a first-hand account of life for Jewish people under Nazi occupation—has sold over 30 million copies.
• Mrs Schloss often travelled across Europe, addressing the youth in particular and spreading a message not to hate.

"I have worked very, very hard to alter people's attitudes," Mrs Schloss once said. "Each person you convince not to be racist is a step forward."

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.