Eva Schloss, Anne Frank’s stepsister and Holocaust education campaigner has died at the age of 96. King Charles, who met her in 2022, leads tributes saying he and Camilla “admired her deeply.”
According to the New York Times, King Charles danced with Schloss in 2022 while visiting a Jewish community center in north London, and said he was “privileged and proud” to have known her.
Her death was confirmed on Saturday, in a tribute to Eva Schloss in the Jewish News. In the tribute, her family wrote of their “great sadness” at the passing of “our dear mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.” Meanwhile, she was the co-founder and honorary president of the Anne Frank Trust, of which Queen Camilla is a patron.
The king said in his statement, “My wife and I are greatly saddened to hear of the death of Eva Schloss, adding:
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.
Schoss grew up in Vienna, Austria with her parents and brother, and later moved to Merwedeplein Square in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where she met a fellow teenager, Anne Frank. As things worsened in the Netherlands, Schloss and her family moved from one house to another over a period of two years in order to evade capture. However, the family was eventually betrayed by a Nazi sympathizer who first took them into their home, and then gave them away.
A message from The King following the death of Auschwitz survivor, Eva Schloss.
Eva was Anne Frank’s step-sister, and co-Founder and Honorary President of the @AnneFrankTrust, of which The Queen is Patron. The Trust works to empower young people to challenge prejudice. pic.twitter.com/8HEC8lrtYp
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) January 4, 2026
The family was arrested on Eva’s 15th birthday in 1944, and brutally interrogated. During May 1944, they were forced on to the trains to the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz. Once there, Schloss and her mother were separated from her brother and father.
After surviving the Holocaust in Auschwitz, Schloss moved to the UK, living in London for over 70 years. In 1952, Eva married Zvi Schloss and they had three daughters, Jacky, Caroline and Sylvia. When her mother, Elfriede, married Anne Frank’s father, Otto, in 1953, the Auschwitz survivor became Anne Frank’s stepsister.
At the age of 92 in 2021, Schloss again became a citizen of Austria, her country of birth. In their tribute, her family said: “We hope her legacy will continue to inspire through the books, films and resources she leaves behind,” adding. “We are incredibly proud of all that Eva stood for and accomplished, but right now, we are grieving.”
Anne Frank’s stepsister, Eva Schloss, who informed the world that all the photos and videos from the ‘Auschwitz liberation’ are ‘fake,’ has died. pic.twitter.com/U5wsMqag18
— Frankie Stockes (@realStockes) January 5, 2026
Schloss was described by Dan Green, chief executive of the Anne Frank Trust, as “a beacon of hope and resilience”, adding. “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,” he added.
“We at the Anne Frank Trust mourn her loss deeply and extend our heartfelt condolences to her family and friends during this difficult time.”
