Community News: Yael Breuer reports on Holocaust Survivor Eva Schloss’ talk in Ralli Hall Jewish Centre in Hove

Over 200 people from across the Jewish community of Brighton and Hove, as well as representatives from the wider community, gathered at Ralli Hall Jewish Centre in Hove to mark Yom Ha’Shoah, the Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day. The congregants watched James Still’s play ‘And Then They Came For Me’ and listened to a talk by Holocaust Survivor Eva Schloss, whose story is the main subject of the play.

A multimedia production involving dramatisations as well as documented accounts of survivors Mrs Schloss and Ed Silverberg, the play remembers the world of Anne Frank, who was a friend of both, and whose father, Otto Frank, survived Auschwitz Death Camp and became Eva Schloss’ stepfather after the War. Mrs Schloss is also the co-founder of the Anne Frank Trust UK.

The event was organised by The Sussex Jewish Representative Council and the play was staged the following day for local schools. The Deputy Lieutenant of East Sussex, Geoffrey Bush, Peter Kyle MP for Hove & Portslade, Labour Party politician Ivor Caplin and the Rabbis of all Brighton and Hove synagogues were in attendance.

Ellah Sasson, 13, who is celebrating her Bat Mitzvah this month at the Brighton and Hove Reform synagogue and who chose to write her Bat Mitzvah project about Mrs Schloss’ life, had the opportunity to meet and interview Mrs Schloss after the event. Ellah’s mother, Sarah Sasson, said: “This is the first time in her life she has studied the Holocaust and it all becomes very real when you meet a survivor. I don’t think most adults can comprehend what really happened, let alone a soon-to-be teenager. 

It all becomes very real when you meet a survivor

“Added to that we finally managed to trace Ellah’s great-grandmother’s Auschwitz number as she wanted to dedicate her project to her. She found the evening tough but it has left her with many more questions about her heritage which she will probably pursue over time.”

The event was also reported on Brighton Latest TV and can be viewed on youtu.be/7VumdzJRlC4