After surviving the horrors of Auschwitz-Birkenau she became the famous diarist’s stepsister through her mother’s marriage to Otto Frank.
A resident of St John’s Wood for many decades, she went on to co-found the Kentish Town education charity Anne Frank Trust UK and dedicate her life to ensuring the Nazi atrocities were never forgotten.
Born Eva Geiringer in Vienna in 1929, she, her parents Erich and Fritzi, and “gentle, sensitive” older brother Heinz, fled Austria when the Nazis annexed the country in 1938.
The family moved into the same Amsterdam apartment block as the Frank family in February 1940, where Anne and Eva, who were born a month apart, became playmates from the ages of 11 to 13.
In 1942, both families went into hiding to avoid the round up of Jews. The Franks famously hid in the attic above Otto’s office and factory, while Eva’s family moved from house to house for two years before they were betrayed by a Nazi sympathiser.
On her 15th birthday they were arrested, brutally interrogated and, in May 1944, forced on to trains to the death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
There, Eva and her mother were separated from her father and brother. She would never see her brother again, although she saw her father briefly on several occasions.
Eva, Fritzi and Otto were liberated by the Russians from Auschwitz-Birkenau in spring 1945, but returning to Amsterdam, were devastated to discover that their families had died; Anne, her mother, and sister Margot in Bergen-Belsen, Erich and Heinz on a Nazi death march.
After the war, Eva moved to London to train as a photographer and met and married Zvi Schloss in 1952.
Meanwhile Otto recovered his daughter’s diary from their belongings in the secret annexe and published it in 1947. Fritzi had also stayed in Amsterdam where she married Otto in 1953.
Eva co-founded the Anne Frank Trust UK in 1990 to help young people challenge prejudice through learning about her friend’s story.
King Charles, who danced with Eva during a visit to JW3 community centre in Finchley Road in December 2022, said he was “privileged and proud” to have known her.
In a statement, the King said: “My wife and I are greatly saddened to hear of the death of Eva Schloss.
“The horrors that she endured as a young woman are impossible to comprehend and yet she devoted the rest of her life to overcoming hatred and prejudice, promoting kindness, courage, understanding and resilience through her tireless work for the Anne Frank Trust UK and for Holocaust education across the world.
“We are both privileged and proud to have known her and we admired her deeply. May her memory be a blessing to us all.”
Eva remained the honorary president of the Anne Frank Trust UK and was awarded the MBE in 2012 for her education work giving talks in schools, prisons and libraries.
Confirming her death in the Jewish News her family described their “great sadness” at the loss of “our dear mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother”.
They remembered her as “a remarkable woman: an Auschwitz survivor, a devoted Holocaust educator, tireless in her work for remembrance, understanding and peace”.
They added: “We hope her legacy will continue to inspire through the books, films and resources she leaves behind.
“We are incredibly proud of all that Eva stood for and accomplished and we thank everyone for the love and respect shown to Eva over the years.”
Eva suffered health problems caused by her Auschwitz ordeal.
For years she was withdrawn, suffered nightmares and struggled to connect with people.
But in 1986, she was asked to speak at the opening of the Anne Frank Travelling Exhibit in London and found purpose in working with more than 132,000 young people through its schools programme.
She said: “We must never forget the terrible consequences of treating people as ‘other’. We need to respect everybody’s races and religions. We need to live together with our differences. The only way to achieve this is through education, and the younger we start the better.”
Anne Frank Trust chief executive Dan Green described her as “a beacon of hope and resilience”, adding: “Her unwavering commitment to challenging prejudice through Holocaust education has left an indelible mark on countless lives.
“Her legacy will continue to guide and empower young people to build a world free from hatred and discrimination.
“We at the Anne Frank Trust mourn her loss deeply.”
