Holocaust Camp Survivor Eva Schloss Passes Away at 96 Years Old as King Charles Leads Respects

King Charles has led tributes to Anne Frank's step-sister and survivor of the Holocaust Eva Schloss, who has died at the age of 96.

He added, "The horrors that she endured as a young woman are impossible to fathom and yet she dedicated the rest of her life to fighting hatred and prejudice, fostering kindness, courage, understanding and resilience."

A Life Committed to Awareness

Mrs Schloss was the co-founder and honorary president of the Anne Frank educational trust, an organization where Queen Camilla serves as Patron.

In the 1940s, Mrs Schloss and her family were forced from their home in Austria. They lived as refugees in the Netherlands before being apprehended and sent 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 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 clinging to life. Her father and brother both died in the camps.

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

An Enduring Impact

Over the past 40 years, Mrs Schloss dedicated her life to trying to prevent history from repeating itself.

• As co-founder of the Anne Frank Trust UK, she safeguarded Anne Frank's memory and educated people about the Holocaust.
• Frank's internationally famous diary—a personal testimony of life for Jewish people under Nazi occupation—has sold over 30 million copies.
• Mrs Schloss often journeyed across Europe, speaking to the youth in particular and spreading a message of tolerance.

"I worked very, very hard to alter people's attitudes," Mrs Schloss once said. "Every individual 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 fled to Palestine during the war.

The couple settled in London and became British citizens. Mr Schloss died in London in 2016. They are survived by their daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren.