The month of November is home to Holocaust Awareness Week, and Colorado State University is honoring that in an extraordinary way.

Eva Schloss, the stepsister and childhood friend of Anne Frank, will speak at CSU on Monday, November 18, at 7 p.m. in the Lory Student Center Ballroom.

Schloss, née Geiringer, was born in Vienna to a Jewish family in 1929. Her family emigrated to the Netherlands in 1938, following the takeover of Austria by Germany, where they became neighbors with Anne Frank.

Both families were forced into hiding to avoid the Nazis in 1942. Two years later, Schoss' family was discovered by the Nazis after being given up by a secret agent living in the Dutch underground.

The family was taken to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps, where her father and brother later died. Schloss and her mother were freed in 1945 by Soviet troops.

After their release, the two returned to Amsterdam and reconnected with Otto Frank, who was working to continue Anne's legacy. Eva's mother married Frank in 1953, and they stayed together until his death in 1980.

Following Frank's passing, Schloss dedicated her life to keeping the memory of Anne Frank alive. Since then, she's spoken about her wartime experiences over 1,000 times, in the hopes to educate people about the Holocaust and global peace.

Now, at age 90, Schloss will continue this educational journey at CSU as part of Holocaust Awareness Week, which begins on Friday, November 15.

Her speech is open to the public and free to attend, but tickets are required. Tickets are available here. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. — it's best to get there early, as tickets do not guarantee a seat.

"I hope that by presenting this opportunity to hear firsthand from a survivor it will allow a space for learning, understanding, and self-reflection," said Denise Negrete, present of Students for Holocaust Awareness Week. "We all need to understand what hate is, what it can do, and join together to defeat it."

A full event list for the week can be found here.

 

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