The stepsister of famous war diarist Anne Frank spoke at an event in Taunton for Holocaust Memorial Day 2007. Her mother married Anne Frank's father after the war, and she went into hiding with her family for two years before being captured and sent to Auschwitz. Anne died in Bergen-Belsen in March 1945. | "When first selection took place at the platform, older people and babies were taken to one side and killed immediately." | | Eva Schloss |
Mrs Schloss has spent her life spreading a message of tolerance. She recounted her memories of Auschwitz to BBC Somerset Sound's Alex Gale. On arriving at the death camp, she said: "We thought that our last hour had come. You did smell burning flesh and you saw the smoke. "When first selection took place at the platform, older people and babies were taken to one side and killed immediately. "We, the lucky ones at that time, were taken into the camp. "The first hour was horrific. We had to undress completely naked, and the Nazis were walking around poking fun at our humiliation. "All our hair was shaved and we were tattooed. "While this was going on, which took hours, we were told: 'Your family have already been killed and are burning. If you go outside, you will see the smoke.'" Holocaust Memorial Day is on Saturday, 27 January, 2007. The theme of the event in 2007 is The Dignity of Difference. | 
