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Holocaust survivor shares her stories with Valley students
By christine keeling
ellsworth
A holocaust survivor shared the story of her World War II ordeal Monday with sixth- through eighth-grade students at Western Reserve Middle School.
Eva Schloss, a London author, and her family were in hiding for two years during the war, and at 15 years old, she spent nine months as a prisoner at Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland.
She wanted students to understand how important knowing history is, so that it’s not repeated.
“I would like to get the message across about the Holocaust and war,” said Schloss. “Teach the students the danger of discrimination, bullying, racism and hatred.”
She said students don’t experience genocide but do understand bullying.
Sixth- and seventh- graders read Schloss’s book “The Promise,” before her arrival. Eighth-grade students at the school read Schloss’ first book “Eva’s Story.”
“The book felt like I was reading a fantasy,” said eighth- grader Bailey Hornberger. “Then she came, and it was like, ‘Oh this is real.’”
Nightmares and bitterness, Schloss told students, were things that plagued her for many years after the death of her brother and father and the end of the war.
She likened her loss to those felt by family members of 9/11 victims.
Schloss recounted for the audience a promise her father made to her brother, Heinz, who was afraid of dying. Her father, she said, told the young boy that his memory would live on, even if he didn’t have children.
Her books were a way to keep her father’s promise and to help her find happiness, she said.
The students strained their necks to see the numbers tattooed by Nazis on Schloss’ left forearm. They laughed when her husband of 59 years stood up — after she was asked if he was dead.
The students got a glimpse into Schloss’s childhood days and heard a little about her stepsister, Anne Frank.
Frank is best known for the diaries she kept during her two years in hiding with her parents during the war.
“I thought it was good,” said eighth-grader Nick Cooper. “I learned a lot and thought she was an inspiration.”
Joyce Matzye, language- arts teacher, said many of her students were impacted by the story because Schloss was 15 when she was captured, and many are approaching 14.
The school’s principal, Debbie Farelli, said she thought Schloss’ visit was a learning experience that teachers and students would never forget.
After the discussion, Schloss signed books for the students and was presented with a book of poems created by the students. Schloss stayed to eat lunch with the eighth-graders and was scheduled to speak in the afternoon at the high school.
Schloss spoke to students at Cardinal Mooney High School on Thursday and will be in town until Sunday. Afterward, she is traveling to Pittsburgh to speak at Penn Hills High School in a video conference with seven other schools.