Mary Reid

Eva Schloss lived near Anne Frank in Amsterdam, and like her went into hiding from the Nazis. She was also captured and transported to Auschwitz, but amazingly survived. After the war her mother married Otto Frank, Anne's father.

Eva took many years to work through her bitterness, but she has spent the last twenty years telling her story and inspiring thousands to take a stand against intolerance and bigotry.

Back in June I was invited to a production of a play about her life 'And Then They Came For Me', performed by MeWe, a local youth theatre group. It made a strong impression on me and I was determined that it should be shown in Kingston, especially to young audiences.

I'm delighted that we will have a chance to see it on Thursday 25th January in the Arthur Cotterell Theatre at Kingston College. (You can order tickets from the Council website). Eva Schloss will attend and will talk about her life. This will be followed by a panel discussion on some of the issues raised.

The first picture shows Eva with the actress who portrays her in the play.

Eva was in Kingston today. She met a number of us in the Parlour and then presented the Royal Borough with a copy of the Anne Frank Declaration of 1998 that was signed by Tony Blair and other UK political leaders, and also by Nelson Mandela. 

Nic Careem (below) is the organiser of the Anne Frank Declaration, which established 12th June as Anne Frank Day. On that day in 1998 a tree was planted  in Kingston in the Memorial Gardens in memory of her and of all children who have been killed in conflicts.

From left: Nic Careem (Founder of the Blue Sky Club and producer of the play), myself with the Anne Frank Declaration, Ellie Northway (who read the declaration to us), and Eva Schloss, who presented Ellie with a copy of her book.

After the presentation we then walked over to Borders where she signed copies of her books.  The latest one, 'The Promise'  tells the story of her childhood to young people.