27.01.2009
The performance in the Scottish Parliament of the award-winning play, “And Then They Came For Me – Remembering The World of Anne Frank”, was the official UK event to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.
The play, performed by the Blue Sky Network, told the story of 79-year-old Eva Schloss, Auschwitz survivor and step-sister of Anne Frank. After the play, Ms Schloss and director Nic Careem took part in a question-and-answer session with the audience.
Margaret Mitchell MSP, Convener of the Equal Opportunities Committee, which hosted the event, said afterwards: “It was absolutely terrific to have such a varied audience with representatives from the Jewish community; people of other denominations and of none; charity workers combating sectarianism in present-day Scotland; the Minister for Community Safety, Fergus Ewing MSP, and many others, not least of whom was Eva Schloss herself.
"No-one could have failed to be moved by this powerful play and the quiet dignity of Eva Schloss as she answered the many questions from the audience. It was clear that the themes resonating from the play are all too relevant today, from seeking to combat acts of hatred and genocide worldwide to tackling the mindless violence and horrific, senseless knife assaults committed within communities all over Scotland.”
Background
The play is based on Eva Schloss’s autobiography "Eva’s Story", published in 1988. In 1995 the American playwright James Still wrote "And Then They Came For Me – Remembering Anne Frank,’ an educational multimedia play which weaves video interviews with Holocaust survivors – including Eva Schloss – with live actors recreating scenes from World War II.
The play’s producers, the Blue Sky Network, in association with Second Generation (an organisation of Holocaust survivors and their children), Holocaust-related organisation Yad Vashem UK and The Big Issue, have staged the play in more than 150 UK schools, prisons and colleges in the past two years.