Last of a generation: Auschwitz survivor and stepsister of Anne Frank, Eva Schloss dies aged 96

King Charles has led moving tributes to Eva Schloss, the stepsister of diarist Anne Frank and passionate Holocaust educator, who died peacefully in London at the age of 96 on Saturday 3 January 2026. 

Born in Austria in 1929, Eva’s family escaped from the Nazis by moving to Amsterdam. There, they became neighbours of the Franks and Eva and Anne would often play together. Eva and Anne were both born in 1929, a few months apart.

Both families went into hiding on the same day in 1942.

While in hiding, Eva’s family was betrayed and sent to concentration camps in 1944. Eva and her mother survived Auschwitz, but her father and brother were murdered. After the war, Eva settled in London, where she met and married Zvi Schloss. The following year, her mother Frtizi married Anne Frank’s father Otto.

In 1990, Eva co-founded the Anne Frank Trust UK, set up to empower young people to challenge prejudice through learning from Anne Frank and the Holocaust. Queen Camilla became its first Royal Patron in January 2024.

In 2024 alone, the Trust worked with over 132,000 young people through the Schools Programme and trained just under 5,300 young people as peer educators, More than 45,000 young people have gone through the Trust’s peers scheme.

In 2024 Eva said: “We must never forget the terrible consequences of treating people as “other”. We need to respect everybody’s races and religions. We need to live together with our differences. The only way to achieve this is through education, and the younger we start the better.”

Expressing “great sadness” at the loss of “our dear mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother”, Eva’s family led by daughters Jacky, Caroline and Sylvia, described her as “a remarkable woman: an Auschwitz survivor, a devoted Holocaust educator, tireless in her work for remembrance, understanding and peace. We hope her legacy will continue to inspire through the books, films and resources she leaves behind.

“We are incredibly proud of all that Eva stood for and accomplished, but right now, we are grieving. We kindly ask the media and the public to respect our privacy during this difficult time. We hope to hold a memorial event at a later date, and will share further details in due course. We thank everyone for the love and respect shown to Eva over the years.”

Posting on social media, His Majesty King Charles III wrote: “My wife and I are greatly saddened to hear of the death of Eva Schloss.

“The horrors that she endured as a young woman are impossible to comprehend, and yet she devoted the rest of her life to overcoming hatred and prejudice, promoting kindness, courage, understanding and resilience through her tireless work for the Anne Frank Trust UK and for Holocaust education across the world.

“We are both privileged and proud to have known her, and we admired her deeply. May her memory be a blessing to us all.”

Dan Green, chief executive of the Anne Frank Trust said: “Eva was a beacon of hope and resilience. Her unwavering commitment to challenging prejudice through Holocaust education has left an indelible mark on countless lives. Her legacy will continue to guide and empower young people to build a world free from hatred and discrimination. We at the Anne Frank Trust mourn her loss deeply and extend our heartfelt condolences to her family and friends during this difficult time.”

Charity chair Nicola Cobbold said: “Eva co-founded the Anne Frank Trust in 1990 and remained an engaged and passionate supporter of its work until the end, determined that it should deliver Otto Frank’s vision. She so warmly welcomed me into the Anne Frank Trust family and openly and honestly shared her memories, stories, fears and aspirations.

“Above all she believed that to enable peace people should work together as human beings, recognising and challenging prejudice and promoting love and reasonableness. Her tireless work over the decades was remarkable and she will be sorely missed by so many. Her memory will truly be a blessing.”

Paying tribute, Anne Frank Trust UK honorary vice president Gillian Walnes, said: “I first met Eva in 1989 when she opened the Anne Frank exhibition in Bournemouth, just three years after she first spoke publicly about her Holocaust experiences. She went on to share her story across the world, honouring the memory of her beloved father Erich Geiringer and teenage brother Heinz, who were murdered in the Shoah.

“Into her 90s, she spoke with tireless passion, often giving several talks a day, including in prisons and schools. Eva’s legacy lives on in the lives she touched and the history she so bravely kept alive.”

Writing on Sunday evening, The Anne Frank House Museum in Amsterdam said: “Eva Schloss-Geiringer had a great impact on the Anne Frank House; we could always call on her. In 2017, Eva, then 88 years old, came to Amsterdam at our request to mark Anne Frank’s 88th birthday. In Anne Frank’s former home at Merwedeplein 37-2, across from her own former home at number 46, Eva shared her life story with thirteen 13-year-old students from the Amsterdams Lyceum – the same secondary school she had attended as a girl, together with her brother Heinz.

“Eva told the pupils about her childhood, going into hiding and deportation to Auschwitz, and the loss of her father and brother. At the request of a pupil, she showed the tattooed number on her arm. It fell silent.

“Our dear Eva has passed away, nine years after the death of her husband Zvi. We wish her daughters, sons-in-law, grandchildren and other loved ones every strength with this great loss.”

Olivia Marks-Woldman, Holocaust Memorial Day Trust chief executive, told Jewish News: “We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of Eva Schloss, a woman who contributed so much to Holocaust education. She was a quiet and consistent presence through so many decades of Holocaust education, sharing her personal experiences of the Holocaust with elegance, charm and integrity.

“She understood that thousands of people were interested not only in her own personal history, but also in the history of Anne Frank, her posthumous stepsister, and was able to provide witness testimony about the Frank family. Her steadfast commitment to Holocaust education, tackling contemporary racism and ensuring people understand where prejudice can lead, was inspirational. We send our heartfelt condolences to her family.”

Karen Pollock, chief executive, the Holocaust Educational Trust, said the organisation was “deeply saddened by the passing of our friend, Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss, aged 96. Eva was an extraordinary woman, an indefatigable titan whose life mission was to ensure that the horrors of the Holocaust would never be forgotten.

“Eva spent decades working tirelessly to make sure that the truth of the past would never be forgotten. After the war Eva’s mother married Anne Frank’s father, Otto. Knowing the impact that Anne’s story could have, Eva dedicated her life to ensuring that her posthumous stepsister would be remembered. As a co-founder of the Anne Frank Trust she worked to ensure that the legacy of the past would be a future free from hatred and racism. Her tenacity and dedication to sharing her story will be missed. May her memory be a blessing.”

Eva dedicated her life to global peace and Holocaust education, talking about her experiences to audiences around the world. She wrote three books: Eva’s Story, After Auschwitz, and The Promise.

In recognition of her achievements Eva was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Civil Law at the University of Northumbria, Newcastle, and the decoration Knight of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

In 2021, at the age of 92, she adopted Austrian citizenship, the country of her birth, on the premise that “the young people need to see we can be friends again”, adding that she believed it was “morally the right thing to do.”

She retained dual UK citizenship, but said of her acknowledgement of her birthplace: “The Austrians are sorry about what has happened. We can’t carry on the hatred and discrimination any more. The Nazis are not with us.”

Eva’s husband Zvi Schloss died in 2016.