Book description
This is the remarkable true story of a young Jewish girl and her
brother growing up during the Second World War, caught in a world
turned upside down by the Nazis. Written specially for children, Eva
describes her happy early childhood in Vienna with her kind and loving
parents and her older brother Heinz, whom she adored. But when the
Nazis marched into Austria everything changed. Eva's family fled to
Belgium, then to Amsterdam where, with the help of the Dutch
Resistance, they spent the next two years in hiding - Eva and her
mother in one house, and her father and brother in another. Finally,
though, they were all betrayed and deported to Auschwitz concentration
camp in Poland. Despite the horrors of the camp, Eva's positive
attitude and stubborn personality (which had often got her into
trouble) saw her through one of the most tragic events in history and
she and her mother eventually returned to Amsterdam. Sadly her father
and brother perished just weeks before the liberation. Eva and her
mother went back to the house where Heinz and his father had hidden,
for Eva had remembered that Heinz had told her he had hidden his
paintings beneath the floorboards there. Sure enough, there were over
thirty beautiful paintings. Heinz hadn't wasted any of his talents
during his captivity. For Eva, here was a tangible, everlasting memory
of her brother and a reminder of her father's promise that all the
good things you accomplish will make a difference to someone, and your
achievements will be carried on. Heinz's paintings have been on
display in exhibitions in the USA and are now a part of a permanent
exhibition in Amsterdam's war museum.
Told simply and clearly for younger readers, THE PROMISE is an
unforgettable story, written by Eva Schloss, the step-daughter of Otto
Frank and Barbara Powers, Eva's very close friend.
Eva Schloss lives in North London and has been married to Zvi for
over fifty years. They have three grown-up daughters and five
grandchildren. Eva regularly visits schools, universities and other
institutions to talk about her experiences during the Holocaust. A
play, 'And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank'
by James Still deals with the lives of Eva and her posthumous
step-sister, Anne Frank and other teenagers in the Holocaust. It has
been performed all over the USA and in many other countries including
a performance by children and young people in London in 2005 to mark
the liberation of Auschwitz.
Eva is a trustee of the Anne Frank Trust in London.
