With a very special visit to the Bushnell Theater in Hartford, Eva Schloss shared her incredible and fascinating story of the life she and her stepsister Anne Frank lived. Ms. Schloss went into detail about the ups and downs of her life, focusing on the major impact that the Holocaust had on herself, many of her close friends, and her loved ones.
Ms. Schloss is an 89-year-old woman who went through a tough childhood. Born in Austria, she attempted to escape the myriad of atrocities and met up with Anne at the age of 11. Ms. Schloss constantly described Anne as a fun spirited chatterbox. She said she loved her time spent with Anne and would always remember her for all the accomplishments she made.
The duo originally became friends from their neighborhood fun times and later developed a strong sense of trust when having to hide from the Nazis. The members of both families were eventually caught and arrested in 1944, leading to many years of hardship at Auschwitz. With constant hiding, death, starvation, humiliation, and beatings, there was no limitation to the brutality that these people fell victim to.
When she was separated from her brother, mother, father, and sister Anne, things started to look tough. She had a number tattooed on her skin to represent just another Jew that they captured. She was determined to escape, and that’s exactly what she did. She wanted to beat Hitler and all the obstacles that were thrown her way. Ms. Schloss was incapable of talking about this awful time in her life for around 41 years and refused to bring up the topic with any of her children, spouse, or even friends in her daily life.
“Today, again, there is war and suffering and refugees. It’s really similar situations and once again, the world doesn’t care,” Ms. Schloss said. “The younger generation has to learn and do better in the future.” She continued to talk about the future with the positive mindset that our world will learn and progress.
During her many stories, she used the word hope as a goal and insight to the future. She said she hopes that individuals like Hitler will never be able to affect so many people in the negative manner that he did. She also said she hopes that we can take the destruction that set back our world, and run with it to find success. “I was personally impacted on the hardships and bravery that Eva went through,” audience member Joan Bortman said. “I have heard stories from many survivors, but the connection to Anne helped to touch the audience a significant amount.”
Ms. Schloss had a positive mindset even through all the tragedy that was thrown at her. She would not have been able to stand in front of a crowd of 2,000 plus people without a sense of perseverance and determination. Throughout her incredible life, Ms. Schloss faced challenges and showed the strength that everyone has inside them, that needs to be seen and heard by all.
