On the eleventh of May, 1929, Eva Schloss was born. A mere fifteen years later she was captured by the Nazis and imprisoned in the -Birkenau concentration camp. Of the approximately 1.1 million people who were incarcerated there, Eva is one of the 140 thousand lucky who survived.
In 1938, when the threat of the Nazis began to become evident through the annexation of Austria, Eva’s effectively Jewish family made the decision to travel to the Netherlands. In 1942, they went into hiding. At that point, the girl had to submit to a nubbing life of boredom, broken only by tormenting Nazi searches of the houses in which she had taken refuge.
In 1944, her family’s hiding place was denounced. This betrayal led to their placement in the concentration camp, Auschwitz. Eva and her mother were separated from her brother and father. The family would never be together again.
The two women survived. The Russian army liberated the camp in January of 1945.
Otto Frank, father of Anne Frank, who was an acquaintance of Eva’s family before the war, sought her out. He later married her mother.
Eva Schloss spent years in quiet, grappling with a mixture of feelings born as a result of the war. But in 1985 she began to share her story. Since she has published books, given speeches and helped with educating new generations about the Holocaust. She recently took part as part of the panel advising the UK government on the new holocaust memorial which was announced today. Eva has also worked as a professional photographer and had three children followed by five grandchildren.
A film by Joe Cook
Interviewer: Ruhamah Weil
Additional Cameras: Ali Shah and Alison Onyebujoh
Questions: Ruhamah Weil, Eloise McMinn Mitchell, Joe Cook and Suditi Rahematpura.
The Update 