Eva Schloss, a Holocaust survivor and the stepsister of Anne Frank, has died at the age of 96, her family confirmed. Schloss passed away on Saturday in London, where she had lived for more than seven decades.
Born Eva Geiringer in Vienna in 1929, Schloss fled with her family to Amsterdam after Nazi Germany annexed Austria. There, she became friends with Anne Frank, a fellow Jewish teenager whose diary would later become one of the most important accounts of the Holocaust.
As persecution intensified in the Netherlands, Schloss and her family spent nearly two years moving between hiding places to avoid arrest. They were eventually betrayed and arrested on her 15th birthday, before being deported to Auschwitz in May 1944. Schloss and her mother survived the camp, while her father and brother were m*rdered.
After the camp was liberated in 1945, Schloss relocated to Britain, where she later married Zvi Schloss and raised three daughters. In 1953, her mother married Anne Frank’s father, Otto Frank, making Eva Schloss Anne Frank’s stepsister.
For many years, Schloss remained silent about her experiences. She later explained that trauma and grief made it difficult to speak. That changed in the mid 1980s, when she addressed an Anne Frank exhibition in London and began dedicating her life to Holocaust education.
Schloss went on to co-found the Anne Frank Trust UK, serving as its honorary president. Through school visits, international conferences, books, and public campaigns, she worked to challenge antisemitism, racism, and historical denial.
Britain’s King Charles III paid tribute, saying he and Queen Camilla were deeply saddened by her death and praised her lifelong commitment to promoting kindness, understanding, and resilience in the face of hatred.
Even into her 90s, Schloss remained active, urging younger generations to confront prejudice through education. She consistently warned of the dangers of treating people as outsiders and emphasized the importance of respecting differences across cultures and religions.
Her family described her as a devoted mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, as well as a tireless advocate for remembrance and peace. They said they hope her legacy will continue through the books, films, and educational resources she leaves behind.
