At Roosevelt High School last week, students had the chance of a lifetime. As their winter production debuted on Feb. 27, the cast of six shared the stage with the very subject of their drama: Anne Frank's childhood friend and stepsister, Eva Schloss.
Vivid memories
In 1944, Schloss found herself amid thousands of other female Jewish captives at Auschwitz, struggling to stay alive. Separated from both her father and brother, Schloss (then Eva Geiringer) and her mother woke each morning in fear, watching the death toll mount in the Nazi concentration camp.
Since 2001, Schloss, 79, has traveled around the country to speak at high schools, accompanying "And Then They Came For Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank." The drama follows the lives of Anne Frank's two childhood friends - the other, Ed Silverberg, who is named "Hello" in the pages of Frank's "Diary of Anne Frank" - and incorporates pre-recorded testimonies from both.
"It's very important to speak out about issues like [the Holocaust]," Schloss said, speaking with a British accent. After covering thousands of miles of European ground during the 1940s, the Austrian in her voice is nearly unrecognizable. "We should be living in harmony together, yet there is still so much friction around the world."
During her question-and-answer session following Saturday night's performance, Schloss never sidestepped an inquiry from the audience. With each question, Schloss uncovered her vivid memories for each to hear.
When asked about the tattoo she received at Auschwitz, Schloss had no problem rolling up her left sleeve. She simply noted that those seated beneath her would be the last generation to meet a Holocaust survivor.
"There are still some who deny that the Holocaust ever existed," she proclaimed with anguish.
In January 1945, the Russian military rescued Schloss and her mother after nine months in Auschwitz. The two fled to Odessa, Ukraine, before landing back in Amsterdam that May.
Schloss, then 16, spent the next five years with her mother, before moving to London permanently in 1951. Just two years later, her mother wed Otto Frank, Anne's father.
"When you hear [Schloss'] stories of playing with Anne as a child, there is nothing more powerful," Van Kempen said. "The play's message is to serve as a reminder that this [event] is still very much apart of our history."
Keeping in contact
This is the second time the Roosevelt drama department has performed "And Then They Came for Me..." under the instruction of Ruben Van Kempen. In 2000, his class took on James Still's 1995 postmodern drama, which mixes visual media with theatrical drama.
For Van Kempen, the play hits close to home. "I can see each scene so vividly in my mind, because that's my heritage," he said.
As a child growing up in Holland, Van Kempen said he walked the same streets as Frank, Schloss and Silverberg.
His parents and family members were held in Japanese concentration camps in Indonesia. "We can look globally and see that unless you remember these events, history can repeat itself," he said. "For me, it speaks on a whole different level."
Van Kempen and Schloss have been keeping contact since 2001, after he discovered that she had been traveling to the play's different screenings. Seven years later, the two settled on a date and an itinerary, and Van Kempen immediately began production.
"She reached out to me and said she wanted to come out to Seattle," he said. "She told me that she was slowing down her travel schedule so we had to take advantage of the opportunity."
Schloss made the most of her trip, speaking at each of the play's four showings and giving class lectures, among other scheduled appearances.
As the play closed last Saturday, March 1, Schloss quickly boarded a plane for New Orleans and was back at it again.
Just before closing, Schloss provided the larger framework for her efforts. In stating her stance on the Darfur genocide, Schloss' response promptly brought the crowd back to its feet.
"The world has not learned anything about life since the Holocaust," she said, "and that's why I'm speaking up."
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