Local News

14 August 2009 by Zac Goldsmith for The Richmond & Kingston Informer

Eva Schloss's visit to Richmond

Eva Schloss is perhaps Britain’s best-known Holocaust survivor and the step-sister of Anne Frank. Like many people, I’d read about the tragic events leading up to her capture by the Nazis, her grotesque ordeal in Auschwitz, and her eventual release.
 
But it was only meeting her face to face and hearing about the unbearable cruelty she and so many others endured that brought home the full horror of her experiences. She suffered at the hands of Hitler, but it was Stalin, another of the last century’s monsters, who once remarked: “A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic”.
 
In a horribly perverse way, he had a point. Eva’s is a story that was played out millions of times, but it is only possible to take in the full horror of the Holocaust if we look closely at its effects on individual families. For it is only at that human level that we can truly relate.

 Eva Schloss visited Richmond synagogue on Fridayand was  welcomed by the Chairman, Philip Baum. As well as looking around the building, she answered questions from some local children
(Pictures taken by Anthony Epes)

 
Eva’s story isn’t merely an awful history lesson. It is a warning. We sometimes reassure ourselves that these horrors occurred in a different time. But it is worth considering that the Nazi era was born in one of the most advanced and civilized nations our species had ever known - a country that produced Goethe and Beethoven. And what’s more, it was introduced in a democracy.
 
Today our world is fraught with tension – politically, economically and environmentally – and the conditions for extreme and irrational prejudice will inevitably return. Eva’s story is therefore as important today as it ever was.
 
On Monday 21st September, I will be co-hosting an award-winning play about Eva’s life, ‘And Then They Came For Me - Remembering the world of Anne Frank’ at Richmond Theatre. There will be three performances on the day, with schools being invited to attend for free. We are hugely fortunate that Eva herself will be attending all three performances and will answer questions from the public.  To book tickets, please click here

In the meantime, Informer readers will be able to learn more about Eva’s life in an extraordinary interview in next week’s edition of this paper. The Informer’s Helen Clarke joined us in the Kingston Mosque and heard Eva describe her father’s last words to her, the brilliantly gifted brother she lost to the Nazis, and above all, how we must learn from history to avoid repeating it.
 
My heartfelt thanks go to Eva. She is a truly remarkable woman, energetic and committed after all these years to sharing her story with us all. Despite directly experiencing the very worst of humanity, she has emerged, somehow, without bitterness.  “I still believe that deep down human beings are good at heart,” Eva’s step-sister Anne Frank had written. It’s a view shared by Eva and that in itself is a miracle.
 

 Eva also visited Kingston Mosque, where Rashid Laheer welcomed her and gave Nic Careem, Zac and Eva a tour
(Pictures taken by Anthony Epes)

Eva will be coming to Waterstones, Richmond on Thursday 3rd September at 7.30pm for a Q&A session and book signing, of her book, Eva's story

(This article was first published by the RIchmond and Kingston Informer, 14 August 2009)