95: Anne And Eva

While Anne Frank is widely known around the world as a symbol of the 1.5 Million Jewish Children murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust and her “Diary of a Young Girl” (first published in Dutch in 1947 and in English in 1952) has sold over 31 million copies and is translated into 70 languages many do not know of her Step-Sister, Eva Schloss, whose life before and during World War 2 nearly mirrored Anne’s.

(Eva Schloss - née Geiringer-  at School in German-Occupied the Netherlands in 1941.)

Anne Frank was born on June 12, 1929 in Frankfurt Germany.

Eva Schloss (née Geiringer) was born on May 11, 1929 in Vienna, Austria.

Anne’s Sister, Margot, was born 3 years before her in 1926.  Eva’s Brother, Heinz, was born 3 years before her in 1926.

Anne and her Family left Germany for Amsterdam, the Netherlands , because of the Nazis, in 1934. Eva and her Family left German-Occupied Austria for Amsterdam, the Netherlands in 1938.

Anne and Eva lived in the same apartment block on the Merwedeplein in the Rivierenbuurt neighborhood of Amsterdam from the 1930s-1942.

9 year old Anne introduced herself to 9 year old Eva on the playground shortly after Eva’s family moved to Amsterdam (Anne spoke German to Eva since Eva hadn’t learned Dutch yet.)

Both Anne and Eva were made to leave their Non-Jewish Schools -after the German Occupation of the Netherlands in May 1940  - and were forced to attend the same Jewish Lyceum School in September 1941.

Both Anne and Eva were forced, by the Germans, to wear the Star of David on April 29, 1942.

 On July 5, 1942 both Anne’s 16 year old Sister Margot and Eva’s 16 year old Brother Heinz received a Call-Up notice from the Zentralstelle für jüdische Auswanderung (Central Office for Jewish Emigration) to be deported to a “Work Camp in Germany” (in reality those who were deported went to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp.)

Both Anne’s Family and Eva’s Family went into hiding (separately) to avoid the Deportations.

Anne and her Family hid together (with 4 other people) in Amsterdam. Eva and her Mother hid together and Heinz and her Father hid together.

Anne, her Family and the 4 Others in Hiding were betrayed to the Gestapo on August 4, 1944.  Eva and her Family in Hiding were betrayed to the Gestapo in May 1944.

Eva and her Family went to the Westerbork Transit Camp in the Netherlands where they were branded as Criminals by the Germans for having been in hiding and kept in the Punishment Block.  Anne and her Family went to the Westerbork Transit Camp in the Netherland where they were branded as Criminals by the Germans for having been in hiding and kept in the punishment Block.

Anne and her Family were deported from Westerbork to the Auschwitz Death Camp on September 4, 1944 (on the last train to leave Westerbork.)  Eva and her Family were deported from Westerbork to the Auschwitz Death Camp in 1944.

Anne, who was 15 years old (the minimum age the Germans allowed people at Auschwitz to be Forced Laborers instead of immediately going to the Gas Chambers on Arrival) was separated from her Father, at Auschwitz, and never saw him again.

Eva, who was 15 years old (the minimum age the Germans allowed people at Auschwitz to be Forced Laborers instead of immediately going to the Gas Chambers on Arrival) was separated from her Father and Brother, at Auschwitz, and never saw them again.

Note: Here is where the lives of Anne Frank and Eva Schloss differ.

(Eva Schloss - née Geiringer - recently – date unknown.)

Anne was separated from her Mother at Auschwitz when she and her Sister, Margot, were deported from Auschwitz to Bergen-Belsen in Germany. Anne died in Bergen-Belsen a few days after her Sister, between February-April 1945 at 15 years old.

Eva and her Mother survived Auschwitz and was liberated in January 1945 when Eva was 15 years old.

Only Otto Frank survived the War (his Wife and 2 Daughters were killed during the Holocaust.)

Only Eva and her Mother survived the War (her Father and Brother were killed during the Holocaust.)

Otto Frank married Eva’s Mother, Elfriede, in 1953. Otto died in Switzerland in 1980 and Elfriede died in England in 1998.

Eva married Zvi Schloss (a Jewish Refugee from Germany who spent the War in Palestine) in 1952. They moved to the United Kingdom and had 3 Daughters. Zvi died in 2016.

 

Eva Schloss is still alive and is turned 95 years old today (May 11, 2024.)