Bella Macleod
Staff Writer
Eva Schloss, holocaust survivor and inspirational speaker, spoke on Feb. 27 in the Costa auditorium to over 1,300 community members about her experiences during and after the Holocaust in “A Historic Evening with Anne Frank’s Stepsister,” an event sponsored by the Jewish Community Center in Redondo Beach and Mira Costa’s Jewish Cultural Club.
Schloss has spoken to more than a thousand audiences about her childhood during the Holocaust and her experience as a survivor of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi concentration camp in Poland during World War II. Redondo Beach Jewish Community Center Executive Director Rabbi Yossi Mintz first reached out to Manhattan Beach Unified School District Superintendent Michael Matthews to propose the idea of a local event.
“We wanted to have as many people hear Eva Schloss speak as possible, since it’s an opportunity many don’t have,” Mintz said.
Schloss began sharing her story publicly 40 years after the end of World War II and came out with a book, “Eva’s Story: A Survivor’s Tale by the Step-Sister of Anne Frank,” in 1988.
During the event, Schloss defined the importance of several life lessons, including appreciating your surroundings and not remaining silent when inequality arises.
“We are not to be bystanders,” Schloss said. “We have to have the courage to speak up if we see injustice being done. We’re given a wonderful planet that we must look over, [so we must] stop racism and prejudice against other religions.”
Mintz opened the event and thanked Matthews for collaborating with him in order to make the event possible. Manhattan Beach Mayor Amy Howorth also spoke about her experience of visiting Anne Frank’s house in Amsterdam and reading her diary.
“I would say that it was really eye opening to listen to a person who actually lived through the Holocaust and all of the tragic events,” senior Barron Regan said. “[Eva’s talk] was a difficult, but important reminder that our world is an imperfect place.”
Schloss began her talk with a non-fictional story about her first encounter with discrimination during her childhood. When she was nine years old, her best friend’s Catholic parents did not let her see their daughter anymore because she was Jewish.
She later mentioned stories from her childhood regarding her step-sister Anne Frank and how she and her mother barely made it out alive out of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.
“I think the message that she shares, looking back in history, is what intolerance has done to people,” Yossi said. “This is the perspective of life when she was 15 years old and for two years she had to sit in hiding worried about her life.”
Schloss also voiced her opinions regarding teen depression and things a teen can do in order to minimize its effects. There are so many wonderful things in the world and life is something to treasure and enjoy, Schloss said.
“I remember she said that life after the Holocaust was extremely difficult and lonely because none of her peers understood the physical and mental trauma she had endured,” Regan said. “Her determination to survive and share her story over the course of her life is truly incredible.”
Leave a Reply