Eva Schloss, Anne Frank’s stepsister, addressed the Chabad at Washington University in St. Louis last week on her experiences during the Holocaust. She compared, to an extent, today’s plight of Syrian refugees to the refugee situation of the Jews during World War II, calling on countries like England. In a Newsweek piece published last year, Schloss compared Trump’s political rise to Hitler rhetorically.
“If Donald Trump becomes the next president of the U.S. it would be a complete disaster. I think he is acting like another Hitler by inciting racism,” Schloss wrote. “During his U.S. presidential campaign, he has suggested the ‘total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,’ as well as pledging to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico to keep illegal immigrants out.”
Over a year since publishing the article, the 87-year-old Auschwitz survivor toned down her political rhetoric during her Wash U address.
“Trump has been elected. In England, we have Brexit. In France… the right wing government,” she said. “People are dissatisfied. People want change. They want change for the better. You know, the people are speaking. And things will change because we as people, we are powerful. More powerful than the government.”
She added, “As long as we stick together as a people, wanting things to be better, we will get it.”
In an interview with Red Alert Politics, Wash U freshman Rachel Best said, “Her remarks overall were very powerful, genuine, and well-articulated.”
“It was an inspiration that she had such an incredible story, was such a strong character, chose to remain silent for many years even with her husband, and now dedicates her life to speaking about the Shoah,” Best added. “She was so well prepared about what she was going to say and it’s a testament to the importance of maintaining awareness and passing down the stories.”
In 1988, Schloss published her memoir, Eva’s Story: A Survivor’s Tale by the Stepsister of Anne Frank, chronicling surviving one of history’s darkest chapters.
Schloss and her family fled German forces in Austria and Belgium, finally settling in Holland, where they hid and befriended the Franks. They were caught by the Nazis after two years in hiding and sent to Auschwitz where Schloss’ father and brother perished. After liberation, Schloss and her mother returned to the Netherlands. Her mother later married Anne Frank’s father, Otto, who was the lone survivor in his family. She now lives in London.
