NEW ORLEANS – On March 9, 2008, at 2:00 pm, Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss will recount her tragic and harrowing story of Holocaust survival. Eva’s story of hope in the most desperate of situations has been the topic of two books, both co-authored by Schloss – Eva’s Story and The Promise. She also collaborated on the play And Then They Came for Me – Remembering the World of Anne Frank. The presentation at The National World War II Museum in New Orleans is free and open to the public.

Eva Geiringer Schloss was born in Vienna in 1929. The Geiringer family consisted of her beloved Mutti and Pappy and her older brother Heinz, to whom Eva was extremely close. The family was Jewish and emigrated to Holland in 1938 when Hitler annexed Austria. Their safe haven did not last long. In 1942, the family was forced into hiding after Heinz received orders to report for a work detail. Hiding forced the family to live apart, Eva with her mother and Heinz with his father, with only a few treasured reunions.

Finally in May 1944, on the day of Eva’s 15th birthday, the entire family was captured after being betrayed by a double agent in the Dutch Underground. The family was sent to Auschwitz where Eva recounts horrors that left her physically and spiritually devastated. When the Russian army liberated the camp in January of 1945, Eva and her mother, both barely alive, were among a handful of survivors. They would eventually learn that her father and brother had not been so fortunate.

Schloss and her mother were finally repatriated to Amsterdam in May 1945. In 1951, Schloss moved to London where she met and married Zvi Schloss. The couple had three daughters. In 1953, Eva celebrated another happy occasion, the marriage of her mother to Otto Frank, the father of Anne Frank and only survivor of the Secret Annex. This made Eva the posthumous sister of Anne Frank, whom she had known during her time in Amsterdam.

In addition to her lecture and booksigning at the Museum, Eva Schloss will attend a performance of And Then They Came for Me – Remembering the World of Anne Frank. Performances will be held at Benjamin Franklin High School on March 6, 7 and 8. The play is co-sponsored by The National World War II Museum.

For more information on the lecture, call 504-527-6012 x 225. For information on the play, call 504-286-2600. Eve Schloss’ books will be available for sale both at the lecture and the performance.

The National World War II Museum was dedicated in 2000 as The National D-Day Museum and recently has been designated by Congress as the country’s official national World War II museum. It illuminates the American experience during the war era and celebrates the American spirit, the teamwork, optimism, courage and sacrifice of the men and women who won World War II. The National World War II Museum is currently undertaking a $300 million expansion that, when complete, will create a six-acre campus of exhibition pavilions, an advanced format 4-D theater, USO venue, and a research and conference center in downtown New Orleans. For more information about The National World War II Museum, call 504-527-6012 or visit online at www.nationalww2museum.org.