Woodcliff Lake–Eva Geiringer Schloss, a survivor and childhood friend of Anne Frank, spoke to a large crowd recently at the Woodcliff Lake Hilton about her experiences and those of her family at the hands of the Nazis during World War II. The evening was a project of Valley Chabad’s Eternal Flame Holocaust Education program, started about a year ago, and The Bergen County YJCC. One of the sponsors of the evening was the Jewish Home Assisted Living in River Vale, NJ. Eternal Flame is supported in part by the George and Martha Rich Foundation, which is devoted to Holocaust education, genocide prevention, and the elimination of intolerance toward any minority group. The talk was in the form of a conversation between Mrs. Schloss and Rabbi Dov Drizen, Valley Chabad’s director.

The Geiringer family had a “relaxed, wonderful life” in Austria before the War, but when Hitler annexed Austria in 1938, “shops were looted and Jews pulled out of their homes,” she said. Eva, her sister, and their parents moved first to Belgium and then Holland to try to escape the Nazis. In Holland, her family met the Frank family and the girls became friends. Both families were betrayed by different individuals and both ended up in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. By the war’s end, Eva and her mother somehow survived the brutal conditions and were freed by Russian soldiers, but her father and brother [Did she have a sister, or brother, or both?] died at Auschwitz. Otto Frank also survived, but lost his family, and years later married Eva’s mother.

Eva Schloss, today an 85-year old grandmother, has devoted herself since 1985 to Holocaust education and recounting her wartime experiences in many speaking engagements. She has written two books and lives in London with her husband; they are the parents of three daughters.

At the end the program, there was a candle-lighting memorial, followed by an exhibit of reproductions of paintings by Eva’s brother. Attendees had the opportunity to buy autographed books by the speaker. She is a trustee of the Anne Frank Educational Trust.