In what is expected to be an incomparable and emotionally moving evening, Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss, best friend and stepsister of Anne Frank, will open up about her experiences, the personal memories of a journey that took her beyond the anguish of Auschwitz to a life dedicated to humanitarianism, when she addresses an audience in Nassau on February 9.
The event, "An Evening with Eva Schloss, Beyond the Diary", is set for 6:00 p.m. at the Melia Nassau Beach resort. It is free and open to the public.
"Every few years, the Nassau Jewish community brings to the island someone whose story transcends individual religions or creeds and teaches all of us in the broader community the real meaning of strength, courage and goodness," said Rabbi Sholom Bluming. "Five years ago, we had Rena Finder, a Schindler's List survivor and two years ago, one of the Israeli fencing team athletes who survived the Munich Olympics massacre. It turned out that the man's life was actually saved by the Bahamian Olympians who were housed nearby and he never knew who saved him until all those years later, but that is the kind of real-life drama that you cannot reinvent, you can only celebrate."
This year, said the rabbi, the presentation will be one that is likely to go down in history here and abroad.
"Eva Schloss is an amazing woman," he noted. "But she is 87 years old and although she is very sharp mentally, reliving the terror and the embers of hope that burned throughout the years of degradation and starvation requires almost superhuman energy. She cannot continue to be a globetrotter forever, recounting the horrors, the hiding, the pain, the starvation and finally victory. Her story of hope and resilience will inspire all of us for its courage and for the example it sets of good outweighing evil."
Mrs. Schloss, who was Anne Frank's childhood best friend growing up in Amsterdam before the war, became her stepsister after the Holocaust when Eva's mother married Anne Frank's father after each lost their spouses. After Anne was murdered, Eva often felt she lived in her friend's shadow but was determined to make her life count and to use her story to inspire others.
"Being able to hear a firsthand account of Anne Frank's life is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity, She has left behind a diary that allowed the world to see the ravages of war through a child's eyes and through the daily life of a family being torn apart bit by bit, limb by limb, dream by dream. Eva went on to live in the shadow but also in the light, creating for herself a full and rich life - author, wife, mother, grandmother, humanitarian."
Mrs. Schloss will arrive in The Bahamas February 7 and will address students from several public and private schools during a presentation at the Harry C. Moore Library at the University of The Bahamas prior to her main presentation at the Melia Nassau Beach resort on Thursday February 9th. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and the program beings at 6:30 p.m. For more information, contact rabbi@jewishbahamas.com or diane@dpa-media.com.

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