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Eva's Story: A Holocaust Survivor's Tale by the Stepsister of Anne Frank
People around the world know the tragic story of Anne Frank, the teenage girl who lost her life in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. But most people don't know about Eva Schloss, Anne’s playmate and posthumous stepsister. Though Eva, like Anne, was imprisoned in Auschwitz at the age of 15, her story did not end there. Together with her mother, Eva endured daily degradation and countless miseries at the hands of the Nazis. She was freed in 1945, but it would be decades before Eva was able to share her survivor’s tale with the world.
Concluding with new discussion questions and a revealing interview with Eva, this moving memoir recounts—without bitterness or hatred—the horrors of war, the love between mother and daughter, and the strength and determination that helped a family overcome danger and tragedy.
Concluding with new discussion questions and a revealing interview with Eva, this moving memoir recounts—without bitterness or hatred—the horrors of war, the love between mother and daughter, and the strength and determination that helped a family overcome danger and tragedy.
271 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 23, 2019
19 people are currently reading
333 people want to read
About the author
Eva Schloss
11 books67 followersEva Schloss (née Geiringer; 1929–2026) was a Jewish Austrian‑British Holocaust survivor, memoirist, and the stepdaughter of Otto Frank, the father of Margot and diarist Anne Frank. She spoke widely about her family's experiences during the Holocaust and participated in the USC Shoah Foundation's Visual History Archive, recording interactive video testimony for use in educational programmes.
From "People Associated with Anne Frank" (Wikipedia article):
Eva Geiringer shared a remarkably similar history with Anne. The Geiringers lived on the opposite side of Merwedeplein, the square where the Frank's apartment was located, and Eva and Anne were almost exactly the same age. Eva was also a close friend of Sanne Ledermann, and she knew both Anne and Margot.
Eva described herself as an out-and-out tomboy, and hence she was in awe of Anne's fashion sense and worldliness, but she was somewhat puzzled by Anne's fascination with boys. "I had a brother, so boys were no big thing to me" Eva wrote. But Anne had introduced Eva to her father when the Geiringers first came to Amsterdam "so you can speak German with someone" as Anne had said, and Eva never forgot Otto's kindness to her. Though they did know each other on a first-name basis, Eva and Anne were not especially close, as they had different groups of friends aside from their mutual close friendship with Sanne Ledermann.
Eva's brother Heinz was called up for deportation to labor camp on the same day as Margot Frank, and the Geiringers went into hiding at the same time the Franks did, though the Geiringer family split into two groups to do so - Eva and her mother, and Heinz and his father. Though hiding in two separate locations, all four of the Geiringers were betrayed on the same day, about three months before the Frank family.
Eva survived Auschwitz, and when the Russians liberated Birkenau, the women's sector of the camp, she walked the mile-and-a-half distance to the men's camp to look for her father and brother, finding out much later that they had not survived the prisoner march out of Auschwitz. But when she entered the sick barracks of the men's camp, she recognized Otto Frank, and had a warm reunion with him.
Eight years later, Otto married Eva's widowed mother Fritzi, thereby making Eva a stepsister of Anne. Eva later wrote her autobiography Eva's Story: A Survivor's Tale by the Stepsister of Anne Frank,[1] which served as the inspiration for the development of a popular multimedia stage presentation about the Holocaust called And Then They Came for Me.
From "People Associated with Anne Frank" (Wikipedia article):
Eva Geiringer shared a remarkably similar history with Anne. The Geiringers lived on the opposite side of Merwedeplein, the square where the Frank's apartment was located, and Eva and Anne were almost exactly the same age. Eva was also a close friend of Sanne Ledermann, and she knew both Anne and Margot.
Eva described herself as an out-and-out tomboy, and hence she was in awe of Anne's fashion sense and worldliness, but she was somewhat puzzled by Anne's fascination with boys. "I had a brother, so boys were no big thing to me" Eva wrote. But Anne had introduced Eva to her father when the Geiringers first came to Amsterdam "so you can speak German with someone" as Anne had said, and Eva never forgot Otto's kindness to her. Though they did know each other on a first-name basis, Eva and Anne were not especially close, as they had different groups of friends aside from their mutual close friendship with Sanne Ledermann.
Eva's brother Heinz was called up for deportation to labor camp on the same day as Margot Frank, and the Geiringers went into hiding at the same time the Franks did, though the Geiringer family split into two groups to do so - Eva and her mother, and Heinz and his father. Though hiding in two separate locations, all four of the Geiringers were betrayed on the same day, about three months before the Frank family.
Eva survived Auschwitz, and when the Russians liberated Birkenau, the women's sector of the camp, she walked the mile-and-a-half distance to the men's camp to look for her father and brother, finding out much later that they had not survived the prisoner march out of Auschwitz. But when she entered the sick barracks of the men's camp, she recognized Otto Frank, and had a warm reunion with him.
Eight years later, Otto married Eva's widowed mother Fritzi, thereby making Eva a stepsister of Anne. Eva later wrote her autobiography Eva's Story: A Survivor's Tale by the Stepsister of Anne Frank,[1] which served as the inspiration for the development of a popular multimedia stage presentation about the Holocaust called And Then They Came for Me.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 14, 2023
I had the opportunity to attend an interview of Eva a few years ago. Hearing her story and then reading it was heartbreaking. She is such a strong and inspiring woman. Please! Give this book a read!!
January 9, 2025
Literally speaking is not a Nobel Prize but the description of the suffering in Second World War is quite precise and touching. Is also a window to that hardly unknown moment that was the post liberation of the Concentration Camps and the ordeal to return to a home that had no capacity to deal with those that had been deported. Worth the reading.
January 17, 2026
I never thought I would hear about another holocaust that Hitler caused after 80 years when the allied countries defeated Hitler but the way America is right now because of trump I am afraid that we will have another holocaust! When you read these holocaust stories it is hard to think how Hitler and his looney tunes could do what they did. The nazis were evil! I do not understand how America can have nazis in our country and doing the same things that Hitler did 80 years ago.
January 22, 2026
a must read
Eva Schloss has written her life story and I feel every single person should read this a story of survival and comradeship in a place that was hell bent on destruction. Especially now since the sad passing of Eva was announced a few days ago, those who continue to deny the holocaust should read this and know that it did happen and Eva’s story is concrete witness of the crimes committed against her people
Eva Schloss has written her life story and I feel every single person should read this a story of survival and comradeship in a place that was hell bent on destruction. Especially now since the sad passing of Eva was announced a few days ago, those who continue to deny the holocaust should read this and know that it did happen and Eva’s story is concrete witness of the crimes committed against her people
January 31, 2026
Over the years, I have reread The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, but I had never read any of Eva’s books. It is a heartbreaking and honest look at Eva’s life of survival in Auschwitz and dealing with the loss of family and aftermath of the horrors she endures, yet hopeful as she rebuilds her life. She was resilient and inspiring, and you just need to read the book to hear it in her own words and voice.
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December 13, 2023
So much unnecessary killing of innocents. No matter how many survive the atrocities of war, emotional damage will scar these people all their lives. A harrowing story of survival
February 9, 2025
Such an important book. Possibly more important than Anne Frank's Diary, especially today.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews