THE FILM
The 90-minute film EVA'S MISSION tells the impressive story of the life of EVA SCHLOSS, survivor of Auschwitz-Birkenau and stepdaughter of Otto Frank, Anne Frank's father.
In the film we intertwine the storylines of Eva's traumatic past with her present as an active speaker all over the world fighting xenophobia and intolerance. We explore the experiences that shaped her identity as a young girl, fleeing Vienna, hiding in Amsterdam, and being betrayed and deported to Westerbork and Auschwitz.
We also show how Eva overcame all the adversities and now, at 88, tirelessly fights for tolerance and global peace and against the demons of the past resurfacing in today's society: anti-Semitism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, demagogy and the rise of populist parties and nationalism.
Did Eva survive hell as a young girl only to see the demons of hatred return in world politics at the end of her life? Our film follows one of the last living Auschwitz survivors on her mission, Eva’s Mission.
Actress and filmmaker Martha Van Der Bly is behind Eva's Mission, a long-held dream. They first met in 2011 in London, when Martha was cast in a play about Eva's life, first as the Nazi and then as Eva, performing at London schools and on a tour to South Africa. When Martha moved back to Amsterdam, Eva’s story gained a new urgency and she embarked on a personal journey following Eva.
Eva’s Mission is generously supported by grants from the Amsterdam Art Council, Cinecrowd supporters, the Democracy & Media Foundation and the Gravin Van Bylandt Foundation.
EVA SCHLOSS
Eva Geiringer was born in Vienna on 11 May 1929. After the Anschluss, the Geiringer family fled first to Brussels and then to Amsterdam. Here they lived on Merwedeplein 46, right across the square from Anne Frank’s family at 37.
The Geiringer family went into hiding on 6 July 1942, the same day as the Frank family. In May 1944 they were betrayed and deported to transit camp Westerbork and from there to Auschwitz. The family was separated; Eva and her mother went to Birkenau and Eva’s father and brother Heinz to Auschwitz.
The Russians liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau on 27 January 1945. After a long journey home, Eva and her mother arrived in Amsterdam in June 1945. They resettled at Merwedeplein, where they met Otto Frank again. In Amsterdam they found out the terrible news: Heinz and Eva’s father were both murdered.
In 1951 Eva moved to London, where she met Zvi Schloss. They got married at the City Hall of Amsterdam in 1952. Eva’s mother and Otto Frank, the widowed father of Anne Frank, also got married at the City Hall of Amsterdam in 1953.
Eva Schloss has three daughters and five grandchildren and wrote three books. Eva received an MBE from Queen Elizabeth for her work in Holocaust education. Today Eva (90) lives in London and still travels around the world giving lectures to warn people about the consequences of hatred and prejudice.
