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Remembering the Holocaust: Anne Frank’s step-sister Eva Schloss — Transcript

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  1. 0:13Hello.
  2. 0:14My name is Jonah Albert and I'm a
  3. 0:16cultural event producer at the British
  4. 0:18Library. And I would like to welcome you
  5. 0:20to this special event to mark Holocaust
  6. 0:22Memorial Day.
  7. 0:24It is our pleasure to have Eva Schloss
  8. 0:27in conversation with Tim Robertson this
  9. 0:30evening.
  10. 0:32We would like to extend a warm welcome
  11. 0:33to those of you joining us from the
  12. 0:35Living Knowledge Network, a network of
  13. 0:37libraries across the country. But before
  14. 0:40we start, some housekeeping. Above me,
  15. 0:43you will see three tabs. You can use one
  16. 0:45of them to buy Eva's book,
  17. 0:49the other to donate to the British
  18. 0:51Library. The British Library is a
  19. 0:53charity.
  20. 0:54And the third to send us feedback,
  21. 0:57particularly on our virtual events.
  22. 1:00Below the video,
  23. 1:02you can see a form that will enable you
  24. 1:04to send questions which Eva will answer
  25. 1:07towards the end of the event.
  26. 1:09The event is being speech-to-text
  27. 1:11captioned. You can turn this on by
  28. 1:14clicking on the tab below the video.
  29. 1:19Please welcome Tim Robertson, who has
  30. 1:21been the chief executive of the Anne
  31. 1:23Frank Trust UK since 2018.
  32. 1:27His previous roles included director of
  33. 1:29the Royal Society of Literature and
  34. 1:31chief executive of Koestler Trust for
  35. 1:34arts in prison. He's also been a
  36. 1:36children's social worker in the London
  37. 1:38Borough of Camden. Ladies and gentlemen,
  38. 1:41please welcome Tim Robertson.
  39. 1:44Jonah, thank you very much indeed for
  40. 1:46that welcome. Um everybody watching,
  41. 1:49it's going to be my great honor this
  42. 1:51evening to introduce you to Eva Schloss.
  43. 1:54Um as Jonah said, I uh I'm the chief
  44. 1:56executive at the Anne Frank Trust UK. Uh
  45. 2:00and it's a real personal pleasure for me
  46. 2:02to be at the British Library again. I
  47. 2:03live just across the street on Judd
  48. 2:05Street, and I've had a long connection
  49. 2:06with the with the library in my previous
  50. 2:08role at the Royal Society of Literature,
  51. 2:11uh we set up an event partnership with
  52. 2:13the library, which is still flourishing.
  53. 2:14It's a great pleasure to be here.
  54. 2:17Um uh
  55. 2:18and the library also has some connection
  56. 2:20with Anne Frank. You may know that in
  57. 2:22the forecourt there is a tree planted in
  58. 2:25Anne Frank's memory, and there are no
  59. 2:27fewer than two statues of Anne Frank
  60. 2:30inside the library. Pray God for the day
  61. 2:32when we can all actually get into the
  62. 2:34building again. Uh both of them uh one
  63. 2:36in near the education center, one
  64. 2:38downstairs, both of them bronze statues
  65. 2:40of Anne Frank.
  66. 2:42Uh now, Anne Frank was
  67. 2:44uh and her family were Jewish refugees
  68. 2:48from Nazi Germany. And they fled in the
  69. 2:51mid-1930s to Holland, uh and only to
  70. 2:55find that Holland was invaded by the
  71. 2:58Nazis in 1940. And a couple of years
  72. 3:01after that, when anti-Semitism had
  73. 3:03completely taken over the society around
  74. 3:07them, they were forced into hiding. And
  75. 3:10they hid for with four other Jewish
  76. 3:13people, so uh um Anne and her parents
  77. 3:16and her sister. Uh for nearly two uh for
  78. 3:19over two years,
  79. 3:21uh the time in when Anne Frank was aged
  80. 3:2313 to 15, during which time she wrote a
  81. 3:26diary about her experiences.
  82. 3:30But the Franks were betrayed and
  83. 3:33deported by the Nazis to concentration
  84. 3:36camps, and all of them died apart from
  85. 3:40uh Anne's father, Otto.
  86. 3:43And they were among the 6 million Jewish
  87. 3:46people who were murdered by the Nazis in
  88. 3:49the Holocaust,
  89. 3:51uh along with millions of people others
  90. 3:54whom Nazis deemed to be unacceptable
  91. 3:58human beings.
  92. 4:00And the worst of those death camps where
  93. 4:04the the Nazis sent people was Auschwitz
  94. 4:07which was liberated by the Soviet Army
  95. 4:09on the 27th of January 1945
  96. 4:14and the 27th of January is the date that
  97. 4:16we mark as Holocaust Memorial Day
  98. 4:19which is actually in a couple of days
  99. 4:21time and in fact this year
  100. 4:23the the the the national event Holocaust
  101. 4:26Memorial Day run by the Holocaust
  102. 4:27Memorial Day Trust is open to all of us.
  103. 4:29You can go online to see that event if
  104. 4:32you want to and Holocaust Memorial Day
  105. 4:34Trust have asked for all of us to light
  106. 4:38a candle in our windows at 8:00 on
  107. 4:41Thursday evening to remember those who
  108. 4:43perished in the Holocaust and subsequent
  109. 4:46genocides.
  110. 4:48Anne Frank though after the war her
  111. 4:51diary was discovered and published and
  112. 4:53it's begun on in three ways to become
  113. 4:55quite astonishing culturally,
  114. 4:57politically and educationally.
  115. 4:59Culturally the most astonishing world
  116. 5:01phenomenon 36 million copies sold one of
  117. 5:04the most beloved books in the world
  118. 5:06radio programs, TV programs, films and
  119. 5:08astonishing array of different cultural
  120. 5:11manifestations. Politically an
  121. 5:13inspiration to JF Kennedy to Barack
  122. 5:15Obama to Nelson Mandela to Vaclav Havel
  123. 5:18to all kinds of liberal and liberating
  124. 5:22thinkers and leaders.
  125. 5:24And educationally and there are Anne
  126. 5:28Frank educational organizations all
  127. 5:30around the world and at the Anne Frank
  128. 5:31Trust UK we are the one that's the
  129. 5:33British branch and we take Anne Frank's
  130. 5:37story into schools across Britain and
  131. 5:40use that as a means to educate about all
  132. 5:45forms of prejudice and discrimination.
  133. 5:47We have workshops on anti-Semitism,
  134. 5:49homophobia, Islamophobia, sexism and and
  135. 5:52so on and now Anne Frank Young
  136. 5:54Ambassadors become amazing spokespeople
  137. 5:56for a fairer and more equal world.
  138. 5:59But they're always grounded in that
  139. 6:03knowledge of the Holocaust. Uh and we
  140. 6:07were founded by a survivor of the
  141. 6:10Holocaust, by Eva Schloss.
  142. 6:13And Eva's story, as you will hear this
  143. 6:16evening, intersects in various ways with
  144. 6:18Anne Frank's and is different in some
  145. 6:21other ways. Uh and um
  146. 6:24you uh Eva will is going to talk for
  147. 6:27about 40 minutes to tell her story.
  148. 6:30And uh she will then answer some
  149. 6:33questions, which you have on your
  150. 6:35screen, the details of how to submit
  151. 6:37your questions to us. Uh and if you want
  152. 6:40to know more about Eva, you'll see also
  153. 6:43that you can buy her book. She's written
  154. 6:44three books, actually, but uh the the
  155. 6:47the latest and uh and the the fullest of
  156. 6:49telling her story is called After
  157. 6:51Auschwitz.
  158. 6:53Uh and so it's my very great pleasure,
  159. 6:56as always, to welcome the co-founder and
  160. 6:59honorary president of the Anne Frank
  161. 7:01Trust UK, Eva Schloss. Eva.
  162. 7:05Where will you begin your story? I would
  163. 7:08imagine in your childhood
  164. 7:11in Vienna in the 1930s.
  165. 7:15Um well, good evening, everybody. Um
  166. 7:18it's an honor for me to be speaking in
  167. 7:20the British Library.
  168. 7:22And um yes, I have a big story,
  169. 7:25unfortunately rather sad. Um I actually
  170. 7:30usually start, like you say, in in
  171. 7:33Vienna, but as this is a different kind
  172. 7:36of talk because we remember the
  173. 7:39liberation of Auschwitz. And I am one of
  174. 7:43the very very few if at all anymore
  175. 7:46people who were there and have survived
  176. 7:50till this day. Um and so I really would
  177. 7:54like to start with sort of the end of
  178. 7:57this terrible part of my life.
  179. 8:01But it was the quite the end because you
  180. 8:02will hear in my story.
  181. 8:05Um it was February um um
  182. 8:10It was Sorry, it was January 1945.
  183. 8:14The camp Auschwitz had been partly
  184. 8:17evacuated already. Many many days Nazis
  185. 8:22took uh empty barracks in the men camp
  186. 8:25and the women's camp. I was actually in
  187. 8:27Birkenau. If you have ever been to those
  188. 8:30complexes of camps, so there were many
  189. 8:33many camp. So there Auschwitz main camp
  190. 8:36the big one, then was Birkenau which was
  191. 8:41um
  192. 8:42very very big but it was different. It
  193. 8:44was constructed just 1940 for more
  194. 8:49prisoners and it was very basic just
  195. 8:52wooden barracks with um
  196. 8:55barracks no furniture and no toilets and
  197. 8:58no water in it and um very very
  198. 9:01primitive quite different from Auschwitz
  199. 9:04which was proper brick buildings with um
  200. 9:08single bunks and as well washrooms and
  201. 9:12uh tables and cupboards where people
  202. 9:15could be their belongings.
  203. 9:17So um
  204. 9:19we realized it was winter. It was very
  205. 9:22very cold. The snow was perhaps a meter
  206. 9:26high
  207. 9:27and uh very often we walked without
  208. 9:29shoes. I had terrible frostbite on my
  209. 9:32feet I could hardly walk. I was at at
  210. 9:35time in a barrack together with my
  211. 9:37mother.
  212. 9:39Later I will tell you that wasn't always
  213. 9:41the case.
  214. 9:43And um
  215. 9:44we didn't know what was going on.
  216. 9:46Sometimes we were called to work,
  217. 9:48sometimes we were stayed in the
  218. 9:50barracks. It was chaos.
  219. 9:52And then one night the Nazis called out
  220. 9:55again. We were in the barrack trying to
  221. 9:57sleep and said, "Everybody out. We are
  222. 10:00going to leave the camp. We are going to
  223. 10:04march."
  224. 10:06And um
  225. 10:07so everybody got out of the barrack. My
  226. 10:09mother was very very weak. We stood in
  227. 10:12the cold, shivering, hardly with any
  228. 10:15clothes on. And then there was an air
  229. 10:18raid.
  230. 10:19The Russians obviously were near and
  231. 10:21were investigating this area.
  232. 10:24So um
  233. 10:26they said, "We are not marching. We
  234. 10:28can't walk marching in air raid." Back.
  235. 10:31And this was the whole night in and out,
  236. 10:33in and out.
  237. 10:35Um after about five, six attempt like
  238. 10:38this, my mother said, "I just can't get
  239. 10:41out anymore. We'll just stay. We take a
  240. 10:44chance on it."
  241. 10:46And I said, "Okay." I was as well
  242. 10:47exhausted. And we fell asleep, deep
  243. 10:51sleep.
  244. 10:52And in the morning we woke up
  245. 10:55and it was very very quiet.
  246. 10:58We went to look at outside. The camp was
  247. 11:01practically empty.
  248. 11:03There were about three, four barracks
  249. 11:05where there was still some people. And
  250. 11:08that was it.
  251. 11:10So the gates were open. We could have
  252. 11:13gone, but where are we going?
  253. 11:16The
  254. 11:17the population outside was not welcoming
  255. 11:20to us. We knew that.
  256. 11:22So there were some Polish
  257. 11:24prisoners who did go, but most people
  258. 11:27stayed.
  259. 11:29We were 10 days still on our own.
  260. 11:32And many, many people died.
  261. 11:35I was one of the few people with a
  262. 11:38Polish woman who had still the strength
  263. 11:41to take those dead bodies out and we
  264. 11:44just had to heap them up outside in the
  265. 11:47snow. We couldn't do anything else with
  266. 11:49them.
  267. 11:51And then one day again we were looking
  268. 11:53around see if we can find some bits of
  269. 11:55food on the ground and there stood a
  270. 11:58enormous creature
  271. 12:01um at the gate
  272. 12:02and it was the first Russian soldier
  273. 12:05coming to investigate. He came into the
  274. 12:09camp. He had no idea what he was going
  275. 12:11to find. Um again some Polish people
  276. 12:14could speak to him. He explained he was
  277. 12:17just a scout but the army will follow.
  278. 12:20He's going back to tell the army that
  279. 12:22there are no Nazis here anymore so that
  280. 12:24it is safe for them to advance. And this
  281. 12:27is what happened. Within the next day
  282. 12:30suddenly the Russians came with their
  283. 12:33field kitchen, with tanks, with horses
  284. 12:37and um stayed the night, put the field
  285. 12:40kitchen up and fed us.
  286. 12:42You can't imagine what this meant for
  287. 12:44us. We haven't had food um for many
  288. 12:48months even, just bits of peas, a bit of
  289. 12:51bread um but now hot, wonderful cabbage
  290. 12:54soup.
  291. 12:56And we And they gave us as much as we
  292. 12:58wanted and we ate and ate and ate. Um
  293. 13:02the soldiers were singing. It was you
  294. 13:05know, it was wonderful. We said, "Well,
  295. 13:06now it's the end. We will go probably
  296. 13:09home soon and everything will be good."
  297. 13:12But of course it wasn't at all like
  298. 13:13that.
  299. 13:14Um in the morning the Russians were
  300. 13:17gone.
  301. 13:19Um I sat the whole night on a bucket. My
  302. 13:22stomach food went just straight through
  303. 13:24me because I just couldn't digest it.
  304. 13:27And in the morning again, many people
  305. 13:30had died from overeating.
  306. 13:33So, we stayed again for a few days, and
  307. 13:36then I said to my mother, "Well, we
  308. 13:38can't stay like this. We'll all die.
  309. 13:41And I'm going to go to Auschwitz to the
  310. 13:43main camp to try to find my father and
  311. 13:46brother."
  312. 13:48So, there was a French girl. He said,
  313. 13:50"I'll come with you." So, we did.
  314. 13:53And it was about 3 mi. We went in the in
  315. 13:57the dark because there was still
  316. 13:59fighting around. We heard
  317. 14:01bullets flying around and shooting and
  318. 14:03all that.
  319. 14:04So, we went eventually we arrived in
  320. 14:07Auschwitz, and the Russians had made a
  321. 14:09headquarters there. So, it was more
  322. 14:11civilized with proper barracks like I
  323. 14:14told you.
  324. 14:15And um
  325. 14:16I asked permission if I can look in the
  326. 14:18barrack to try to find my father and
  327. 14:21brother. So, we were again um many
  328. 14:25barracks where we saw a few people
  329. 14:26sitting outside, standing, walking. They
  330. 14:30didn't know what to do, where to go.
  331. 14:32And um I looked all over the place, and
  332. 14:35then I saw a man standing there
  333. 14:38um very pale, very old, looking lost.
  334. 14:43And I went to him, and I said,
  335. 14:47"You look familiar to me."
  336. 14:49He said, "Yes, I'm Otto Frank, Anne's
  337. 14:52father. And you, I think you're Eva
  338. 14:54Geiringer, Anne's friend." I said, "Yes,
  339. 14:57yes."
  340. 14:58"Have you seen my girls? Have you seen
  341. 15:01my wife?"
  342. 15:02"No, I never saw them. Have you seen
  343. 15:04Heinz and my father?" because we knew
  344. 15:07them. He said, "Yes, they were here, but
  345. 15:10a few weeks ago they left with the Nazis
  346. 15:14when they were evacuating the camp."
  347. 15:17So, good news.
  348. 15:20Um
  349. 15:21the war can't last
  350. 15:23They'll be all right. So, I went back
  351. 15:25and fetched my mother and so we had to
  352. 15:28stay a few weeks in Auschwitz and then
  353. 15:31the Russians decided they wouldn't leave
  354. 15:33us there. They would take us eastward
  355. 15:36safe.
  356. 15:38And that is what happened. We traveled
  357. 15:41for 4 months with the Russians till May.
  358. 15:45Can you imagine? Still in cattle trucks
  359. 15:48the same. As it there the doors were
  360. 15:51left open a little bit. There was a
  361. 15:53stove there.
  362. 15:54Um, they gave us food. There were no
  363. 15:57toilets. So, when the train stopped we
  364. 16:00could go out and relieve ourselves.
  365. 16:05We went through different villages. We
  366. 16:08saw unbelievable devastation wherever we
  367. 16:11went. Um, the Germans had ruined
  368. 16:14everything. We went partly through
  369. 16:16Russia, sent to Romania and eventually
  370. 16:20in May
  371. 16:21So, from February till May we traveled
  372. 16:24this way
  373. 16:26and um, we ended up in Odessa.
  374. 16:29Um, we still had all these clothes which
  375. 16:32we had left Auschwitz with and the
  376. 16:34Russians gave us they gave us Russian
  377. 16:38uniforms. Um, I was very proud of this.
  378. 16:41Um, this was actually photographed after
  379. 16:45when we got back. But, um, this is what
  380. 16:49that is what it was. Very solid, very
  381. 16:51well made because a woman's uniform
  382. 16:54because there were a lot of women in the
  383. 16:56Russian army at the time.
  384. 16:59So, anyway, um,
  385. 17:01this is 27th of January that's how it
  386. 17:04started and it was not the end of the
  387. 17:07world and it was not the end of the war
  388. 17:10either.
  389. 17:12So, and then of course a long journey
  390. 17:14till eventually we got back to Amsterdam
  391. 17:17in June.
  392. 17:20And there we were very lucky. We were
  393. 17:22able to get into our apartment.
  394. 17:25But I just want to tell you something.
  395. 17:28Otto Frank was one of the survivors.
  396. 17:31And if he wouldn't have been survived
  397. 17:34like me at the time,
  398. 17:36the diary would never have been
  399. 17:38published.
  400. 17:40So, you know, this was really a
  401. 17:43wonderful for Otto to be surviving and
  402. 17:46be able to get the diary. And what he
  403. 17:49did with it was really another miracle.
  404. 17:52Well, I hope we'll have time to come to
  405. 17:54this
  406. 17:55towards the end of my story. So, I go
  407. 17:58back now to the beginning, Vienna,
  408. 18:01where um I was born in 1929
  409. 18:05in a very young, wonderful family. I had
  410. 18:09an older brother. We had grandparents,
  411. 18:12aunt, uncle, cousins. Um our family has
  412. 18:15been in Austria
  413. 18:17for generations.
  414. 18:19Um it was a beautiful country. And as
  415. 18:22well, um
  416. 18:24it used to be the one of the I think it
  417. 18:27was the most powerful empire in Europe
  418. 18:30for many, many, many years.
  419. 18:33The Austrian empire. But after the First
  420. 18:35World War, they lost most of those
  421. 18:39power, and Austria became a very, very
  422. 18:41small,
  423. 18:43simple country, quite poor.
  424. 18:46But nevertheless, the Kaiser invited
  425. 18:49from at invited from all this big
  426. 18:51empire, um artists, doctors, musicians,
  427. 18:55poets, painters. So, it was a very, very
  428. 18:59cultured, wonderful country. And
  429. 19:02beautiful with mountains and lakes.
  430. 19:04So, my father and me, we were the
  431. 19:06daredevils. We were always going in the
  432. 19:09mountain, doing dangerous excursions. My
  433. 19:12brother and my mother were anxiously
  434. 19:15waiting for that
  435. 19:17little restaurant in the neighborhood.
  436. 19:19Um, this is one of the pictures that we
  437. 19:23have few pictures of my father because
  438. 19:25my father usually took the pictures.
  439. 19:28But in this case, probably my brother
  440. 19:30took it.
  441. 19:31Um,
  442. 19:33so we were very, very happy. But all
  443. 19:36this changed in um March 1938.
  444. 19:41I just turned um
  445. 19:439 years old.
  446. 19:45Hans was 12 years old when without
  447. 19:48permission, without announcing, the
  448. 19:51Nazis marched into Austria and occupied
  449. 19:53the country.
  450. 19:55And we were amazed and shocked because
  451. 19:59even our friends stood in the street
  452. 20:02waving flag sticking up swastika flags
  453. 20:05and with a heil Hitler's salute.
  454. 20:07My first experience of anti-Semitism
  455. 20:11after school, I went um to my best
  456. 20:15friend who was a Catholic girl.
  457. 20:17And um when the mother saw me, she said,
  458. 20:21"We never want to see you here again."
  459. 20:23And she slammed the door in my face.
  460. 20:26I went home crying. I said to my mother,
  461. 20:30"We didn't have a quarrel. What is the
  462. 20:32matter?" My mother said, "Well, for
  463. 20:34Jewish people, life is going to be very
  464. 20:37hard and very difficult."
  465. 20:40My brother came home from school, 12
  466. 20:42years old. His clothes were torn. His
  467. 20:46face was covered in blood.
  468. 20:48And when my parents asked, "Hans, what
  469. 20:51happened to you?"
  470. 20:52He said, "My friends did that. And the
  471. 20:55teachers
  472. 20:57watched it happening." Can you imagine?
  473. 21:01So my father, who had inherited a shoe
  474. 21:05factory from his father,
  475. 21:07and had connections with Holland because
  476. 21:10there was a big shoe industry in the
  477. 21:11south of Holland.
  478. 21:14Immediately left. That was still
  479. 21:17possible.
  480. 21:18But of course, to our whole family
  481. 21:21couldn't really leave. He said, "I will
  482. 21:23try to find accommodation and then
  483. 21:25hopefully you can all follow."
  484. 21:28But by that time, that was 1938,
  485. 21:31already many countries had taken in
  486. 21:34refugees from Germany.
  487. 21:36But so in '38, it was very difficult,
  488. 21:40practically impossible, unless you were
  489. 21:43a very famous person. England, America
  490. 21:46accepted famous people, but ordinary
  491. 21:49people they just didn't give any visas
  492. 21:52to those people.
  493. 21:54So, we couldn't go.
  494. 21:57So, um eventually we heard we could go
  495. 22:00illegally to Belgium.
  496. 22:02So, that's what we did and we ended up
  497. 22:05in Brussels in 1939.
  498. 22:08My father still lived in South Holland
  499. 22:11and so he came to visit us weekends.
  500. 22:15And um
  501. 22:16but in the meantime Hitler went into
  502. 22:19Czechoslovakia and Poland and the war
  503. 22:22started, 1940.
  504. 22:24And my father tried desperate to get a
  505. 22:27visa for us to come to the Netherlands.
  506. 22:30Eventually, in February 1940, during the
  507. 22:35war, we got a visa for 3 months to visit
  508. 22:39my father in Holland.
  509. 22:42And we moved to a big square um
  510. 22:45I have no idea if I have a photo of
  511. 22:47this, but it is well known because other
  512. 22:50refugees lived there and one of them was
  513. 22:53a Frank family.
  514. 22:55And we were both 11 years old at the
  515. 22:57time and if you live in apartment, there
  516. 23:00were no gardens to play, so all the
  517. 23:03children played in the street.
  518. 23:06So one day a little girl came to me,
  519. 23:09introduced herself.
  520. 23:11Her name was Anne Frank.
  521. 23:14And she took me right away up to her
  522. 23:17apartment because she couldn't speak
  523. 23:18German anymore as she was 4 years old
  524. 23:21when she came to Holland and she
  525. 23:23introduced me to her dad
  526. 23:26who could speak German to me. And I
  527. 23:29right away
  528. 23:31liked him. He was a a man
  529. 23:34mind that's the time an elderly
  530. 23:36gentleman because my father was
  531. 23:39just 40 and Otto was already in the 50s.
  532. 23:43But very very kind. He spoke German Mimi
  533. 23:46said anytime you want to come and have a
  534. 23:49conversation with me, just tell Anne and
  535. 23:52we'll be friends.
  536. 23:53So that was all very nice. We settled
  537. 23:57down. When I told Anne I had an older
  538. 23:59brother
  539. 24:00she said, "Oh, where can I come and meet
  540. 24:02him?" Because already was 11, she really
  541. 24:06liked boys.
  542. 24:08So nothing came of this actually.
  543. 24:11But anyway, we were very happy in
  544. 24:13Amsterdam. My brother, he got had a
  545. 24:15guitar in this furnished apartment was a
  546. 24:19piano. He right away started to
  547. 24:22play again and life seemed good again
  548. 24:26and the Dutch were very welcoming. We
  549. 24:29enjoyed life. That is on the steps where
  550. 24:32we went into the apartment in the
  551. 24:34Merwedeplein.
  552. 24:35And
  553. 24:36yeah, we we were happy but very short
  554. 24:40because in May the Germans invaded
  555. 24:43Holland as well.
  556. 24:45I won't go too much into that. It was a
  557. 24:47short war, 5 days and the Dutch
  558. 24:50capitulated
  559. 24:52and we tried still to escape but there
  560. 24:54was no chance and we were occupied.
  561. 24:57Occupation, the first year was not too
  562. 25:00bad, but the second year in 1941,
  563. 25:03it became already very, very bad for
  564. 25:06Jewish people.
  565. 25:08We had to wear the yellow star. We had
  566. 25:11many restrictions.
  567. 25:13Um
  568. 25:14we had to give in the bicycle. We were
  569. 25:16not allowed to have a radio. We had to
  570. 25:18be in at 8:00, and people started to
  571. 25:22disappear.
  572. 25:23So, it was very scary.
  573. 25:25Then we had to leave our school and go
  574. 25:28into Jewish schools, which by itself,
  575. 25:31nothing wrong with that.
  576. 25:33But again, the Nazis wanted to kill the
  577. 25:35young people first, so they went into
  578. 25:38the schools with trucks
  579. 25:40and told the children to go on the
  580. 25:42truck,
  581. 25:44and the parents waited in the afternoon
  582. 25:47for the children to come home, and they
  583. 25:49didn't turn up.
  584. 25:51So, they went to the police.
  585. 25:54No answer.
  586. 25:55And
  587. 25:56the children were never, ever seen
  588. 25:58again.
  589. 26:00Only after the war, we heard that they
  590. 26:03were sent to Mauthausen, a terrible
  591. 26:05Austrian death camp,
  592. 26:07and just thrown down from the cliffs.
  593. 26:11The Dutch have a big, beautiful monument
  594. 26:13there for all those hundreds of
  595. 26:17young Dutch people and also well refugee
  596. 26:20children who perished there.
  597. 26:23Quite early in the war, really.
  598. 26:27And um so, life went on, and then um in
  599. 26:311942,
  600. 26:33about 10,000 youngsters between the age
  601. 26:36of 16 and 20 and 20, 25, 26 got the
  602. 26:42call-up notice to be deported to
  603. 26:44Germany.
  604. 26:45That was for Hans Schott said and Margot
  605. 26:48Annes' older sister.
  606. 26:51And that was the time when both parents
  607. 26:54and many, many other parents decided we
  608. 26:57would go into hiding.
  609. 26:59So, my father called us together and
  610. 27:02said, "Hans, you're not going.
  611. 27:05I found some wonderful Dutch people who
  612. 27:08are willing to keep us staying with them
  613. 27:11as long as the war lasts and to keep us
  614. 27:14safe.
  615. 27:15But, you know, the apartments are quite
  616. 27:17small.
  617. 27:19I I couldn't I would find uh
  618. 27:22people who were going to take in four
  619. 27:24people. So, we have to split up.
  620. 27:27And um I will go with mother and um
  621. 27:31um Hans will go with my baby, my father
  622. 27:34said. And I started to cry. I didn't
  623. 27:37want to be separated.
  624. 27:39And my father explained,
  625. 27:42"If we are in two different places,
  626. 27:45the chance that two of us will survive
  627. 27:49is bigger."
  628. 27:51survive.
  629. 27:54That was the first time that I realized
  630. 27:57it might be a matter of life and death.
  631. 28:00And that is pretty scary.
  632. 28:03Well, Hans, being so
  633. 28:06gentle and so sensitive,
  634. 28:09he was
  635. 28:10very afraid of dying and he asked Poppy,
  636. 28:15"Um
  637. 28:16I'm afraid of dying. What will happen
  638. 28:18when we die?"
  639. 28:20And my father said, "Well, this is what
  640. 28:22happens. We all have to die.
  641. 28:25But um
  642. 28:27you know,
  643. 28:28if you have children, you will live on
  644. 28:30in your children."
  645. 28:32And then Hans said, "But what if I die
  646. 28:35before I have any children?"
  647. 28:37And my father thought for a moment
  648. 28:40and he said,
  649. 28:41"Well, whatever you've done in your
  650. 28:44life, even a short life,
  651. 28:47somebody will remember because we all in
  652. 28:50a um
  653. 28:51link in a big chain which goes from
  654. 28:54generation to generation and nothing get
  655. 28:57lost. So, you won't be forgotten.
  656. 29:01Well, that is what we had to accept.
  657. 29:04And me, too, of course.
  658. 29:07And um so, then we went into hiding. We
  659. 29:10were 2 years in hiding with different
  660. 29:12people. I won't tell you too much about
  661. 29:15it because time is running out. There's
  662. 29:17so much to tell. And um after 2 years,
  663. 29:21we were betrayed
  664. 29:23by a Dutch nurse who was a double agent.
  665. 29:26She pretended she worked for the
  666. 29:28resistance, but she was really working
  667. 29:30for the Nazis.
  668. 29:32It was in um
  669. 29:3411th of May, 1944,
  670. 29:37my 11th my 15th birthday.
  671. 29:40And um we were taken away.
  672. 29:43Um so, we were to different places. It's
  673. 29:46a complicated story. They can't go into
  674. 29:48details, but anyway, we were both
  675. 29:51betrayed and sent to Westerbork and put
  676. 29:54on transport. So, of course, they never
  677. 29:57told you what is going to happen to you.
  678. 29:59So, we had no idea where we were going.
  679. 30:02It could have been a work camp, could
  680. 30:05have been a death camp, could have been
  681. 30:07in Poland, in Germany. We had no idea.
  682. 30:11Um you know, of course, it were cattle
  683. 30:13trucks, terrible transportation, about
  684. 30:1680 people, um two buckets, one for
  685. 30:20toilets, one for clean water.
  686. 30:22Um once a day, we got chunks of bread
  687. 30:25thrown in like you would feed wild
  688. 30:28animals.
  689. 30:29So, terrible.
  690. 30:31But, it was probably the last
  691. 30:33conversation I had with Heinz. He told
  692. 30:36me, because in hiding, he started to
  693. 30:39paint
  694. 30:41and write poetry. He said before the
  695. 30:44escaped from this woman who black was
  696. 30:47that's a long story black made him um he
  697. 30:50hid the
  698. 30:51paintings under the floorboard with a
  699. 30:53note on it this belongs to Hans Kalinger
  700. 30:56and after the war I'm going to pick it
  701. 30:58up again.
  702. 31:00And then he said, "Eva, if I don't make
  703. 31:03it, please
  704. 31:05go and pick the paintings up because
  705. 31:07they are really very very nice. You will
  706. 31:09be amazed what I've created."
  707. 31:13So and then we arrived in Auschwitz
  708. 31:16first selection
  709. 31:18men and women to different sides so this
  710. 31:21is when we had to say goodbye.
  711. 31:24Which you can imagine was a very very
  712. 31:26emotional thing.
  713. 31:28And then the women um
  714. 31:30standing rows of five and Mengele came
  715. 31:34looked you over in a fraction of a
  716. 31:36second he decided life or death right or
  717. 31:40left.
  718. 31:41Eva, could you just explain Mengele?
  719. 31:43Just explain who he was, would you?
  720. 31:46Mengele was officially uh
  721. 31:50medical doctor
  722. 31:52and um
  723. 31:53he was supposed to look after the ill
  724. 31:56people because was he wasn't so was in
  725. 31:59Birkenau a big barrack which was the
  726. 32:02hospital
  727. 32:03and he people if they were ill because
  728. 32:06within days people got typhus dysentery
  729. 32:11because the water which we got was
  730. 32:13unclean.
  731. 32:15So you can imagine in the fields and as
  732. 32:18I said in our barracks
  733. 32:20um there was no washing facilities so
  734. 32:22forget about washing. We were full of
  735. 32:25lice but first of course the people who
  736. 32:28were
  737. 32:29still not going to be killed went into a
  738. 32:32huge huge barracks. The next thing was
  739. 32:35undressed completely naked. We were
  740. 32:38shaved, we were tattooed.
  741. 32:40Um we had to register what job we had,
  742. 32:43what
  743. 32:44old we were, from which country we came,
  744. 32:47all kind of thing. They took many, many,
  745. 32:49many hours and we stood there naked,
  746. 32:53shivering so it was hot.
  747. 32:55And um
  748. 32:57not knowing what's going to happen to
  749. 32:59us. And while this happened, they told
  750. 33:02us with lots of pleasure the people who
  751. 33:05had been selected, all the people and of
  752. 33:08course all the children, they were about
  753. 33:11I think 46 children in our transport and
  754. 33:16that was researched later and only six
  755. 33:19of those survived.
  756. 33:21And I was one of the six.
  757. 33:24So um they told us the family that
  758. 33:28you've been separated from went for a
  759. 33:31shower and then they started to laugh
  760. 33:33and pushing it so hard.
  761. 33:35Um
  762. 33:36but of course it wasn't a shower.
  763. 33:39They were gassed.
  764. 33:41Can you imagine a mother who had been
  765. 33:44just separated from her child how she
  766. 33:46felt?
  767. 33:48So people started to cry and to scream
  768. 33:50and it was awful. And then eventually we
  769. 33:53were let out still naked and we marched
  770. 33:57to a heap of a mountain of clothes and
  771. 34:00we got one garment. Could have been a
  772. 34:02winter coat or a dress or no underwear,
  773. 34:06nothing. And the next heap were shoes,
  774. 34:08two shoes,
  775. 34:09a boot and a slipper, whatever.
  776. 34:12And that was all our belonging.
  777. 34:15We worked from morning to night. We got
  778. 34:18only in the morning a little bit of
  779. 34:21liquid, in the evening a chunk of bread.
  780. 34:25We were full of lice.
  781. 34:27Um
  782. 34:29we worked very, very hard. People
  783. 34:32collapsed. Where we were, 10 sleeping in
  784. 34:35a bunk on the on wood. There was
  785. 34:38nothing, no blanket, no straw, no
  786. 34:40pillow, nothing.
  787. 34:42And um
  788. 34:44very often um
  789. 34:46you wanted to keep your bread for the
  790. 34:48next day, so you put it under your head
  791. 34:50to sleep on.
  792. 34:52And very often in the morning the people
  793. 34:54slept next to you had eaten it away from
  794. 34:57under you.
  795. 34:59So, very often we woke up and the person
  796. 35:03next to you
  797. 35:04was had died in the night.
  798. 35:08So, the condition were unbearable. Many,
  799. 35:11many, many people died all the time. And
  800. 35:14then it became kind of autumn, very,
  801. 35:17very cold. And um once a week we had a
  802. 35:21shower and we were deloused because we
  803. 35:24were full of lice.
  804. 35:25And um
  805. 35:27when we came out
  806. 35:29um Mengele stood there, still naked, and
  807. 35:33we had to parade in front of him. And he
  808. 35:37decided who was still able to work or
  809. 35:40who wasn't. And I passed, my mother
  810. 35:43followed.
  811. 35:44And he she was like any mother, she had
  812. 35:48very often shared her little bit of
  813. 35:50bread with me.
  814. 35:52And she was very thin, didn't look too
  815. 35:55good. And he with 40 other Dutch women
  816. 35:59from our transport
  817. 36:01was selected to be killed.
  818. 36:04So, these women marched out naked and
  819. 36:09I thought I will never ever see my
  820. 36:11mother again.
  821. 36:14So, this was for me the worst moment in
  822. 36:16the camp.
  823. 36:18Um it became winter. I had um snow was
  824. 36:22high. I had very often lost my shoes. I
  825. 36:26had frostbite my feet, could hardly walk
  826. 36:29anymore.
  827. 36:30And then I must admit I was on the point
  828. 36:33of giving up. I said, "My mother is not
  829. 36:36alive, I have no idea if my father and
  830. 36:38Hans is alive. What on earth should I do
  831. 36:41alone if I should survive?" I was
  832. 36:43desperate. And I was starving and ill
  833. 36:47and and many people from the Dutch
  834. 36:49transport had already That was already
  835. 36:52the time when the Germans had started to
  836. 36:54evacuate the camp.
  837. 36:57So, and I sat at my work and I was
  838. 37:00called out by a couple.
  839. 37:03And I thought, "Well, now they want to
  840. 37:04kill me." And I go out and there stood
  841. 37:08my father.
  842. 37:09Unbelievable.
  843. 37:11Never happened to anybody that a man
  844. 37:13came in to ask for a family member. He
  845. 37:17came with his SS boss.
  846. 37:19My father was a big charmer, you know,
  847. 37:22he was
  848. 37:23um he obviously he told me he works in a
  849. 37:26timber factory and he's done very well,
  850. 37:30so he was respected by the Nazis. So,
  851. 37:33obviously he got this privilege to
  852. 37:36to but how they could find me where they
  853. 37:38were they had actually a amazing
  854. 37:41administration. But still, but of course
  855. 37:45it was wonderful. But the next question
  856. 37:48of my father was, "Where is Mutti?"
  857. 37:52And I burst into tears and I told him
  858. 37:55she had been selected to his guest.
  859. 37:59Well, this strong man who never gave in
  860. 38:02to anything
  861. 38:03started tears were rolling down his down
  862. 38:06his eyes.
  863. 38:07And he said,
  864. 38:10Well, first he was speechless but then
  865. 38:12he said,
  866. 38:13"The war will soon be over. Oh, what
  867. 38:15Hans is okay. Please, please hold on.
  868. 38:18We'll be together still."
  869. 38:21And then I never saw him anymore.
  870. 38:25And then another miracle happened
  871. 38:28because this is what I have to point
  872. 38:30out. There were many, many miracles.
  873. 38:32Otherwise I wouldn't sit here.
  874. 38:35Um
  875. 38:37So obviously I told you the Germans
  876. 38:39started to leave already. There was not
  877. 38:41no organization very often. There was no
  878. 38:43work.
  879. 38:45And um so I walked around not knowing
  880. 38:47see if I find a bit of food perhaps on
  881. 38:49the ground.
  882. 38:51And um I saw some Dutch people from our
  883. 38:54transport coming from another part of
  884. 38:56the camp.
  885. 38:57And they said to me they've seen my
  886. 38:59mother.
  887. 39:00Of course I didn't believe it.
  888. 39:02But it was true.
  889. 39:04And that is of course a long story. My
  890. 39:06mother actually write it herself in my
  891. 39:09first book Eva's story.
  892. 39:12She was saved
  893. 39:13and brought back to the living. And um
  894. 39:17she was still alive.
  895. 39:19And so eventually I was able to
  896. 39:22go to the same barrack where she was
  897. 39:25because I said there was not much
  898. 39:27supervision anymore. And so that is I go
  899. 39:30back now to the beginning of
  900. 39:32um
  901. 39:3327th of January. That's what happened
  902. 39:35then when the Russians came.
  903. 39:38And um as I say Otto was with us. And
  904. 39:41then we were in Odessa. Then eventually
  905. 39:45we
  906. 39:46celebrated the end of the war
  907. 39:498th of May.
  908. 39:50And then what now? We're in the middle
  909. 39:52of Russia in Odessa.
  910. 39:55How do we get back?
  911. 39:56But it was all organized. Um there was a
  912. 40:00New Zealand troop transport ship came
  913. 40:03and it brought us back to Marseille and
  914. 40:06then up to Holland and eventually in
  915. 40:08June we got back to Amsterdam again.
  916. 40:14And
  917. 40:15what now?
  918. 40:16We didn't know where to go.
  919. 40:18And they didn't look after us. It just
  920. 40:21dropped us there and that was it. The
  921. 40:23first time after so long, we had to look
  922. 40:25after ourselves. So, my mother said,
  923. 40:28"Well, let's just go in the tram and
  924. 40:30let's go to um friends who was a mixed
  925. 40:34marriage. Perhaps they're still there."
  926. 40:37The husband was a Jew and his wife was
  927. 40:40Christian. Perhaps they're still there.
  928. 40:42So, we took a tram, nobody bothered, we
  929. 40:45didn't pay there, nothing of course, and
  930. 40:48went to this address. And yes, they were
  931. 40:51still there, the Rosenbaums.
  932. 40:54And he let us in
  933. 40:56and um welcomed us and said, "Where is
  934. 40:58Hans and Eric?" Um they were best
  935. 41:01friends of us. And they said, "Well,
  936. 41:03we're waiting for their return."
  937. 41:05But eventually, we decided we will look
  938. 41:08if perhaps we can go back into our
  939. 41:10apartment because it was not our
  940. 41:13apartment, it was furnished, belonging
  941. 41:15to a person.
  942. 41:17And this woman let us back in again.
  943. 41:19That was very exceptional because Otto,
  944. 41:22when he came back, other people had
  945. 41:24lived in his apartment. All the
  946. 41:26furniture was sent to Germany, all the
  947. 41:29things which was there to help the
  948. 41:31cities who had been bombed. And um
  949. 41:35and then Otto came to us one day and he
  950. 41:39told us the terrible news that his whole
  951. 41:42family had perished.
  952. 41:45After he left, I lay sat on my mother's
  953. 41:48lap and we cried and I said to my
  954. 41:51mother, "How can this poor man carry on
  955. 41:53with his life? He has nothing to live
  956. 41:56for."
  957. 41:57And a few days later, he came again with
  958. 42:00a little brown parcel under his arm.
  959. 42:03And you can guess what it was. It was
  960. 42:06Anna's diary.
  961. 42:08And he opened it very carefully and he
  962. 42:10said,
  963. 42:12"Can I read a few sentences in Yiddish?"
  964. 42:15But he always burst into tears. It was
  965. 42:17too emotional.
  966. 42:19Well, you know what happens then. He
  967. 42:21published it and it became eventually,
  968. 42:24not immediately, when it was published
  969. 42:26in America in 1952,
  970. 42:29it became a best seller and from then on
  971. 42:32it just grew and grew and grew.
  972. 42:35And we got as well the notice that
  973. 42:39Heinz and my father on the death march
  974. 42:42perished. Um my father in March and
  975. 42:47Heinz on the 16th of No, 26th of April.
  976. 42:52Just 10 days before the Americans came
  977. 42:55to liberate that camp.
  978. 42:57That was something I just couldn't cope
  979. 43:00with.
  980. 43:01I became full of hatred. I became
  981. 43:03depressed and I wanted to I won't listen
  982. 43:07to that. I wanted to commit suicide.
  983. 43:11I was so desperate. So, I had survived
  984. 43:15because I thought life will go
  985. 43:16eventually back to ordinary life. But I
  986. 43:19realized that will never ever happen. I
  987. 43:22found it very, very difficult to make a
  988. 43:25life again.
  989. 43:26And Otto came to us very often
  990. 43:29and he who had lost everything had no
  991. 43:32hatred. He had long discussion together.
  992. 43:36I told him how I hate everybody and he
  993. 43:39spoke to me. He didn't hate, not even
  994. 43:41the Germans. He expressed everything to
  995. 43:43me.
  996. 43:44Um and he became very helpful for my
  997. 43:48mother. My mother became very helpful to
  998. 43:50him. They became friends. He looked
  999. 43:53after me. He was a good sort of
  1000. 43:57replacement father for the time being.
  1001. 44:00Um he always told me stories about Anne
  1002. 44:03and um
  1003. 44:05eventually when I finished school, um
  1004. 44:07Otto and my mother decided I should
  1005. 44:09become a photographer.
  1006. 44:12And um Otto got me a job in London.
  1007. 44:16And um
  1008. 44:17I went to London for 1 year
  1009. 44:20to become an apprentice.
  1010. 44:22And in London I met a young man and in
  1011. 44:25the boarding house who had come to
  1012. 44:27London to study economic from Israel.
  1013. 44:31And you know we were very poor, we
  1014. 44:33didn't have money and didn't know
  1015. 44:35England, we didn't know anybody in
  1016. 44:37England. And so we went for long walks
  1017. 44:40and after 6 months he said to me, "Eva,
  1018. 44:43I've fallen in love with you. Will you
  1019. 44:45marry me? And when I finish my studies
  1020. 44:49we can go to Israel and start a new
  1021. 44:51life."
  1022. 44:53And I said to him, "No, thank you."
  1023. 44:56He was a little bit shocked, but um I
  1024. 44:58said, "Well, I have a widowed mother in
  1025. 45:00Amsterdam and you know we were very
  1026. 45:03close. I could not imagine I would just
  1027. 45:06go off and leave her." And then Otto,
  1028. 45:09who kept an eye on me, came to visit me
  1029. 45:12one day and I told him I met this young
  1030. 45:16man, I quite like him, and he asked me
  1031. 45:18to marry him, but of course I'm not
  1032. 45:20because I go back to Amsterdam to Mutti.
  1033. 45:24And then he got a bit embarrassed and he
  1034. 45:26said, "You know,
  1035. 45:28we have fallen in love as well and once
  1036. 45:31you get settled we'd like to get
  1037. 45:33married."
  1038. 45:34So I went back to this young man and
  1039. 45:37said, "You can marry me now." Which we
  1040. 45:40did. We went then we went to Amsterdam
  1041. 45:43in 19, uh
  1042. 45:4452 and got married. And Otto and my
  1043. 45:48mother got married a year later in 1953.
  1044. 45:53And I must say I've never seen a happier
  1045. 45:56couple than those two.
  1046. 45:58They really loved each other and helped
  1047. 46:01each other to get through this difficult
  1048. 46:05period of their life. But then when we
  1049. 46:07got three little girls, they became the
  1050. 46:10best grandparents you can imagine. So we
  1051. 46:14had together family.
  1052. 46:16So um this is my story in a very very
  1053. 46:19small nutshell.
  1054. 46:21Um I wrote three books. The promise is a
  1055. 46:24book which um I don't think you will see
  1056. 46:27it, but I think you probably all the
  1057. 46:29books are in the in the British Library.
  1058. 46:32The promise is a story about Heinz.
  1059. 46:35And recently I have decided um you know
  1060. 46:39Anne everybody knows about Anne, but to
  1061. 46:42make Heinz as well a known person that
  1062. 46:45people remembered who he was because
  1063. 46:48that was my father promised him. I'm
  1064. 46:51making with an American filmmaker and
  1065. 46:53animation film.
  1066. 46:55Which we're working on now and I hope it
  1067. 46:58will be finished at the end of this
  1068. 47:00year.
  1069. 47:01So thank you very much. Um
  1070. 47:05please read the books if you want to
  1071. 47:07know more about it because there's a lot
  1072. 47:09lot more.
  1073. 47:10And um
  1074. 47:12I'm now 91 years old and I spent from
  1075. 47:15from 19
  1076. 47:16end of 1980 I spent my life going around
  1077. 47:20many many countries to talk about the
  1078. 47:23atrocities that happened and that people
  1079. 47:27learn from it that it will not happen
  1080. 47:29again.
  1081. 47:31So there's a lot more to be done for
  1082. 47:33everybody and the Anne Frank Trust is
  1083. 47:35one of those organization who try to
  1084. 47:38change the world for a better world.
  1085. 47:41Thank you very very much. I can't see
  1086. 47:43you, but I'm sure you have listened to
  1087. 47:46my story and hopefully you're seeing
  1088. 47:49seeing some of the paintings of my
  1089. 47:51brother.
  1090. 47:54Eva, I've listened to your story I don't
  1091. 47:56know how many times now and every time
  1092. 47:59I'm
  1093. 48:00moved and hear new things and
  1094. 48:03I really the thanks are from all of us
  1095. 48:07to to you.
  1096. 48:09Eva, we do have some questions coming
  1097. 48:11through from the audience. If that's
  1098. 48:13right, we have about 10 or 15 minutes
  1099. 48:15for those questions. The first one I'm
  1100. 48:17going to take is from Sarah and she says
  1101. 48:21thank you for sharing your story and
  1102. 48:24have you ever returned to the camp?
  1103. 48:28Um yes and had the intention never ever
  1104. 48:32to go near anything like that.
  1105. 48:35But in 1995
  1106. 48:37when
  1107. 48:38Auschwitz was for the first first time
  1108. 48:41open to the Western power, there was a
  1109. 48:43big memorial service there and the Dutch
  1110. 48:47television asked me to go there
  1111. 48:50with my husband. I could go and
  1112. 48:53make a program and they first said no
  1113. 48:56way and they said well, we thought so
  1114. 48:58but um think about it before again and I
  1115. 49:01was discussing it with my father and my
  1116. 49:04mother and I said perhaps I can let go
  1117. 49:08once I go and see it and there was one
  1118. 49:10attraction. They said there some of the
  1119. 49:14soldiers who had liberated your camp are
  1120. 49:17going to be there.
  1121. 49:18So and you could go and say a thank you
  1122. 49:21to them and this is really what I wanted
  1123. 49:24to do and so I did go. But it was
  1124. 49:27horrible. My husband as soon as he set
  1125. 49:30foot there burst into tears and the
  1126. 49:33whole film made sure that he was crying.
  1127. 49:36And
  1128. 49:37it was for me it was hard but I thought
  1129. 49:41at least I could
  1130. 49:43try to forget about it from now on. I've
  1131. 49:45seen it and
  1132. 49:48that's it. I had to have to let go.
  1133. 49:53Thank you, Eva.
  1134. 49:55Eva, the next question is from Leon,
  1135. 49:58who's aged six, and Leon asks, "Do you
  1136. 50:03remember the song that the soldier sang
  1137. 50:06to you in that field kitchen?"
  1138. 50:11I
  1139. 50:12I saw
  1140. 50:12Was there Is there a Was there a song?
  1141. 50:14Is that right? When they
  1142. 50:17Was there a song in the field kitchen
  1143. 50:19when you were at Auschwitz?
  1144. 50:22I don't remember you mentioning it, but
  1145. 50:24I thought that's why I asked you in case
  1146. 50:25I missed it.
  1147. 50:25there might have been, no, I don't
  1148. 50:27remember anything like that, I'm afraid.
  1149. 50:30No.
  1150. 50:32Do you remember perhaps that you you
  1151. 50:34described the food. Do you remember
  1152. 50:36other, as it were, moments of hope, joy
  1153. 50:40just after that liberation?
  1154. 50:43Um well, there was no music at that
  1155. 50:46time. Food. Oh, food.
  1156. 50:50If I remember food.
  1157. 50:52Or or other things. What What started to
  1158. 50:54bring you some joy after
  1159. 50:56a song a song.
  1160. 50:57Well, the Russians gave us cabbage soup,
  1161. 50:59so that I do remember very very clearly.
  1162. 51:03Yeah. And in Auschwitz, no, there wasn't
  1163. 51:06there wasn't really much anything which
  1164. 51:11No, I don't remember really any food
  1165. 51:14besides the cabbage soup.
  1166. 51:17And I know I found once when we went
  1167. 51:19Auschwitz, I found on the ground a liver
  1168. 51:22sausage,
  1169. 51:23a whole liver sausage, which probably
  1170. 51:25the Russians had lost or I don't know,
  1171. 51:28and I took it, and I wanted to eat
  1172. 51:30nearly the whole, and my mother said,
  1173. 51:32"Don't don't don't. You'll get You'll
  1174. 51:34get ill of it." But I ate too much, and
  1175. 51:37I was pretty ill.
  1176. 51:41Thank you, Eva. Um Eva, I have a
  1177. 51:43question from Jane, also thanks you for
  1178. 51:46sharing your story. Did you go to find
  1179. 51:49your brother Heinz's paintings and how
  1180. 51:52did it feel when you found them? What
  1181. 51:54made you go and look for them?
  1182. 51:56Yes. Yes, of course. Of course we did go
  1183. 51:59there and it was a very very emotional
  1184. 52:02moment to go in this house
  1185. 52:06and where they'd been betrayed and um
  1186. 52:09but we knew exactly where they were um
  1187. 52:12and people didn't want There was a
  1188. 52:14different people living there and they
  1189. 52:16didn't want to let us in first and they
  1190. 52:18said just us again our house but
  1191. 52:21eventually they let us in.
  1192. 52:23And um I knew exactly where it was in
  1193. 52:26the loft. There was a the planks and I
  1194. 52:30could see a little space and I opened
  1195. 52:33this and we found 30 paintings and a
  1196. 52:36whole heap of poe- poems as well. And I
  1197. 52:40looked at everyone and the favorite of
  1198. 52:43it was um Heinz sitting at his desk with
  1199. 52:46his back facing the the audience.
  1200. 52:49Well done.
  1201. 52:50He's a lot of paintings on the screen
  1202. 52:52now, Eva.
  1203. 52:53Yes, a lot of books around him um
  1204. 52:57a globe on top and on the side is a
  1205. 53:00calendar with 11 on it which is the day
  1206. 53:04of my birthday. So when he painted this
  1207. 53:06lovely painting he was thinking of me.
  1208. 53:09That made me of course and my mother
  1209. 53:12burst into tears.
  1210. 53:14Yes, the paintings are safe and a few
  1211. 53:17years ago I I donated them to the
  1212. 53:20Resistance Museum in Amsterdam where
  1213. 53:24they made a big exhibition and a display
  1214. 53:27of them and so many many people go and
  1215. 53:31see it so
  1216. 53:33to see what Heinz has created.
  1217. 53:35And here's the on the screen now is the
  1218. 53:37painting of the belfry and the bell and
  1219. 53:39looking out over a beautiful flat Dutch
  1220. 53:41countryside it looks like.
  1221. 53:43And what is so nice, you might not see
  1222. 53:45it if it's so small. There's a little
  1223. 53:48bird sitting on the windowsill, and he
  1224. 53:51wrote a beautiful poem,
  1225. 53:53um,
  1226. 53:54"Little bird, where are you going? I
  1227. 53:56wish I could follow you." And it goes
  1228. 53:59on, you know, how he's wishing to be out
  1229. 54:02in freedom. And, um, yeah, so beautiful
  1230. 54:05poems as well.
  1231. 54:09And then the painting of a woman, um,
  1232. 54:12Eva, who is the who's the woman in the
  1233. 54:13painting?
  1234. 54:14That is my mother.
  1235. 54:15And the hands was of course not a
  1236. 54:18painter. Never had never had done
  1237. 54:20anything with oil oil painting. So, my
  1238. 54:23father, to encourage him, started to
  1239. 54:25paint as well.
  1240. 54:27He had never painted either. And this is
  1241. 54:29a portrait of his wife, my mother.
  1242. 54:32And it is really a very very good
  1243. 54:34likeness, beautiful.
  1244. 54:37And I have a copy. The original is of
  1245. 54:39course in the resisted museum, and I
  1246. 54:42have a copy in my living room.
  1247. 54:46And then there's one of the final
  1248. 54:48pictures of our
  1249. 54:49Yes, this is a beautiful picture, and it
  1250. 54:52is very amazing. That is, um,
  1251. 54:56the uncle, um, my mother's sister and
  1252. 54:59her husband and her little son, um,
  1253. 55:02were able to come to England to
  1254. 55:04Lancashire, to Darwen, tiny little town.
  1255. 55:08And
  1256. 55:09they lived there with my grandparents.
  1257. 55:12And when my grandmother was still alive,
  1258. 55:15of course, when she saw the paintings,
  1259. 55:17and she said, "But this is the room
  1260. 55:19where I slept with my grandson."
  1261. 55:23And I I had never been there, never knew
  1262. 55:25anything about this, and it was exactly
  1263. 55:28the room.
  1264. 55:29Amazing.
  1265. 55:31Completely.
  1266. 55:34Eva, I have
  1267. 55:35There were 30 30 artworks, like 30
  1268. 55:38paintings.
  1269. 55:42Um Eva, I have uh
  1270. 55:45a question
  1271. 55:47from Susanna.
  1272. 55:50Uh she says, "I cannot imagine how
  1273. 55:53anyone could live in such terrible
  1274. 55:55surroundings and be able to deal with it
  1275. 55:58in Auschwitz.
  1276. 56:00How do you think it has defined your
  1277. 56:03life?"
  1278. 56:06Um well, that's a difficult question.
  1279. 56:08Like I said, when I came back, I was
  1280. 56:12very depressed.
  1281. 56:14And um
  1282. 56:15afterwards, when I got married, what I
  1283. 56:18wanted was a big, big, big urge to start
  1284. 56:23a family.
  1285. 56:24And unfortunately,
  1286. 56:27it didn't work.
  1287. 56:29And that is, I must tell you, um in the
  1288. 56:32camp, nobody had a period.
  1289. 56:35Um because in the liquid, we got
  1290. 56:37bromide, which means that our female
  1291. 56:41functions didn't work. So, I couldn't
  1292. 56:44conceive.
  1293. 56:45So, I was desperate, but eventually, I
  1294. 56:48had treatment and I got pregnant, and my
  1295. 56:52first daughter was born.
  1296. 56:54And that was for me a big change in my
  1297. 56:57attitude. It was in 1956.
  1298. 57:00In my attitude, in my
  1299. 57:03um hope, and um and yeah, this helped me
  1300. 57:08a lot to get over this terrible
  1301. 57:10experience.
  1302. 57:12And 2 years later, I got my second
  1303. 57:14daughter, and 4 years later, our third
  1304. 57:16daughter.
  1305. 57:17And like I said, we were a family again,
  1306. 57:20and this really helped me to get over
  1307. 57:23this terrible experience.
  1308. 57:27We got Yes, we have a question from
  1309. 57:29Neve, who says, um
  1310. 57:31uh how incredible it is that Otto did
  1311. 57:33not express hate and
  1312. 57:36how did you deal with the anger towards
  1313. 57:39the evil of what happened? And it seems
  1314. 57:41that ultimately that's your question, is
  1315. 57:42it? It was about your family.
  1316. 57:45What?
  1317. 57:46How did you deal with the the hatred?
  1318. 57:49How did you
  1319. 57:49Which hatred?
  1320. 57:51Um
  1321. 57:52How did you get through it?
  1322. 57:53you know,
  1323. 57:54after I had for 40 years I had
  1324. 57:57nightmares till I started in 19 86. So,
  1325. 58:01after 40 years was the first time I
  1326. 58:04spoke openly about what has happened.
  1327. 58:06Actually, in an Anne Frank exhibition,
  1328. 58:09which is the first one who came to
  1329. 58:11England and I was allowed to speak
  1330. 58:14there.
  1331. 58:15And it was difficult for me. I must say
  1332. 58:17very, very difficult, but it helped me.
  1333. 58:21I could let go.
  1334. 58:23So, I lived it all
  1335. 58:2640 years after this, but you know, so 40
  1336. 58:29years were were really difficult. I
  1337. 58:32tried to live a normal life, but I was
  1338. 58:34very shy. I had all kind of nervous
  1339. 58:37illnesses.
  1340. 58:38Um
  1341. 58:39It It's you know, if you go through
  1342. 58:42something like this as a young person,
  1343. 58:44um you can't just get over it. But
  1344. 58:48as I say, the last 40 years of my life,
  1345. 58:52I
  1346. 58:52I
  1347. 58:53when I did good work, I realized um
  1348. 58:56after I came back, people said never
  1349. 58:58again Auschwitz, but of course, in the
  1350. 59:01'80s it started again. The wars,
  1351. 59:04persecutions,
  1352. 59:06prejudice, and so I decided after I
  1353. 59:09spoke up, I am going to try to teach
  1354. 59:12people
  1355. 59:13um
  1356. 59:14that we have to change our attitudes.
  1357. 59:17And this is what I've done for as well
  1358. 59:19for 40 years now. I know I'm stuck at
  1359. 59:22the moment, but I hope that eventually I
  1360. 59:24can carry on.
  1361. 59:26And it is unfortunately still necessary,
  1362. 59:29like Selena Frank's work. Personally, I
  1363. 59:32do as well very much individual work to
  1364. 59:36try to change people's attitudes.
  1365. 59:39And Eva, you've been you've been locked
  1366. 59:42down in your your flat in North London,
  1367. 59:44haven't you? But you've had both your
  1368. 59:45vaccinations now, aren't you? So, we're
  1369. 59:47very glad to know that you're you're
  1370. 59:49safe.
  1371. 59:50But I have the vaccination, but there
  1372. 59:52are also people have not yet, so we feel
  1373. 59:55still
  1374. 59:56We're still a bit stuck with this.
  1375. 59:57We've We've got a way to go. And we've
  1376. 1:00:00had
  1377. 1:00:00And I have hope. You know, you must
  1378. 1:00:02never give up hope in any situation.
  1379. 1:00:05There's always an end to every
  1380. 1:00:07situation.
  1381. 1:00:10Thank you, Eva. Can I say to everybody
  1382. 1:00:13watching? We've got lots of questions,
  1383. 1:00:14and I'm so sorry we haven't managed to
  1384. 1:00:16get to all of them. I do have one last
  1385. 1:00:18question, if I may, Eva, from the
  1386. 1:00:20audience, which is from Benedikte.
  1387. 1:00:23Uh and they ask,
  1388. 1:00:25"What would you advise us to do to
  1389. 1:00:28prevent hatred, bullying, and
  1390. 1:00:31discrimination? What would you advise
  1391. 1:00:34the world to do to stop hatred and
  1392. 1:00:36bullying and discrimination?"
  1393. 1:00:39Well,
  1394. 1:00:40the advice is not to feel this way. You
  1395. 1:00:42know, I mean, we are all human beings.
  1396. 1:00:45My husband always used to say, and I
  1397. 1:00:47think that he's so right, we are just
  1398. 1:00:49one race, the human race. It doesn't
  1399. 1:00:52matter if you are um yellow or pink or
  1400. 1:00:56black. Um we are all people. We all have
  1401. 1:01:00the same mechanicals. Our bodies are all
  1402. 1:01:03the same. We do the same work. We have
  1403. 1:01:06the same birth. We have everything the
  1404. 1:01:08same. And um and the same with religion.
  1405. 1:01:11Religion is there to help people make a
  1406. 1:01:15better life, to become better people.
  1407. 1:01:17And people hate different religions. And
  1408. 1:01:20we all want the same. All people,
  1409. 1:01:23the Jewish people, the Muslims, the
  1410. 1:01:25Christians,
  1411. 1:01:27the Hindus, the Buddhists, there are so
  1412. 1:01:29many kind of ways you can
  1413. 1:01:32have a God, but it's all for the the
  1414. 1:01:35better of people. It's
  1415. 1:01:37People hate each other if they're
  1416. 1:01:39different. This we have to learn. We
  1417. 1:01:41have to learn to accept each other for
  1418. 1:01:44human beings, which we are.
  1419. 1:01:49Eva, I can't think of more wonderful
  1420. 1:01:50words to end on than that we're all
  1421. 1:01:52human beings. Um friends, visitors,
  1422. 1:01:55guests at home, can I just say to you
  1423. 1:01:58that some of Eva's story, some of the
  1424. 1:02:03facts about the Holocaust are deeply
  1425. 1:02:05disturbing. You may find yourself
  1426. 1:02:08dwelling on this in the next day or two.
  1427. 1:02:10If you do, just talk. Talk to somebody.
  1428. 1:02:13Do be in touch with a friend, a member
  1429. 1:02:15of your family. Um just make sure that
  1430. 1:02:18you tell somebody else. I heard Eva
  1431. 1:02:21Schloss speaking the other night, and
  1432. 1:02:22this is what I heard. Just so you you
  1433. 1:02:25share it. Uh don't don't let those
  1434. 1:02:27things dwell
  1435. 1:02:28uh in in you too
  1436. 1:02:30grimly. We need to both remember the
  1437. 1:02:33seriousness of this and remember that
  1438. 1:02:36extraordinary
  1439. 1:02:39uh humanity that you embody, Eva,
  1440. 1:02:42um so remarkably. Thank you as ever for
  1441. 1:02:45telling your story so beautifully, so
  1442. 1:02:50frankly to all of us.
  1443. 1:02:52Uh really, you are quite remarkable
  1444. 1:02:54human being. Thank you very, very much
  1445. 1:02:57indeed.
  1446. 1:02:59As as soon as I can, I come to your
  1447. 1:03:01schools. Just ask me. I'll be there.
  1448. 1:03:06Or do get in touch with us at the Anne
  1449. 1:03:08Frank Trust. We will We will always make
  1450. 1:03:10that introduction if if if we can.
  1451. 1:03:13Thank you very much for joining us this
  1452. 1:03:15evening, and a special thank you to our
  1453. 1:03:17guest Ava and also to Tim. Do remember
  1454. 1:03:22to click on the tabs above in order to
  1455. 1:03:25provide us with some feedback and also
  1456. 1:03:27to buy Ava's Ava's book.
  1457. 1:03:31To find out more about the events that
  1458. 1:03:34we're running, do have a look on our
  1459. 1:03:36what's on pages. Thank you very much
  1460. 1:03:38those of you who joined us from the
  1461. 1:03:40Living Knowledge Network. Thank you and
  1462. 1:03:42good night.

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