The University of North Florida and the Chabad of Southside will present a “Historic Evening with Eva Schloss,” a Holocaust survivor and Anne Frank’s stepsister, 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 7, at the Adam W. Herbert University Center, Building 43, in the Banquet Hall, Room 1044.
During an interview with UNF President John Delaney, Schloss will share her experiences as the childhood friend and stepsister of Frank, including accounts of the publishing of Anne’s famed diary, which was first printed 70 years ago.
In 1938, Germany invaded Austria, causing many Jewish families to flee the country to avoid persecution. Schloss was 8 years old when she and her family moved and eventually resided in Holland, where one of her neighbors was Frank, a German Jewish girl of the same age.
The two girls became friends and playmates, passing the time by skipping, playing hopscotch, marbles and drinking lemonade. Ultimately, both Schloss and Frank, as well as their families, were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Schloss survived her concentration camp experience and made her way to England, where she married and raised three daughters. Although Frank didn’t survive, her diary did. Later, the two would become stepsisters.
Since 1985, Schloss has devoted herself to holocaust education and global peace, recounting her wartime experiences in over 1,000 speaking engagements. Her documentary, “116 Cameras,” follows Schloss as she embarks on a project to preserve her story as an interactive hologram that will have conversations with generations to come. The film is in the running for an Academy Award.
Schloss has authored two books and has had a play written about her life. In 1999, she signed the Anne Frank Peace Declaration, along with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and the niece of Raul Wallenberg, a legendary figure who rescued thousands of Jews in Budapest.
This event is free and open to the public. For more information, click here or contact Rabbi Shmuli Novack, Chabad of Southside, at (904) 646-4434.
