Eva Schloss, a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp and Anne Frank's stepsister and childhood friend, will speak at Colorado State University next month as part of Holocaust Awareness Week.

Schloss, now 90, will speak at the Lory Student Center Grand Ballroom at 7 p.m. Nov. 18. The event is free, but tickets are required and can be reserved at csutix.com.

Schloss was born in Vienna in 1929, but her family moved to Amsterdam in 1938 after the annexation of Austria by Germany. Their new home was in the same apartment block as Anne Frank.

Schloss told the Coloradoan she remembers Anne as a very nice girl who loved literature. Anne was a "chatterbox," who was already flirting with boys when the young girls met, Schloss said.

But when Germany invaded in 1942, Schloss and her family went into hiding — and she never saw Anne again. Anne and her family also went into hiding in 1942 and were captured and sent to concentration camps in 1944. Only Anne's father, Otto Frank, survived.

Schloss and her mother, father and brother were captured and sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in May 1944. In January 1945, Schloss and her mother were liberated, but her father and brother died in the camp.

"(I am) very, very lucky and appreciate every day I am alive," Schloss said. "I appreciate life much more."

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In May 1945, she and her mother returned to Amsterdam, where Schloss finished her studies and eventually moved to London in 1951, where she lives now. In 1953, Schloss' mother married Otto Frank.

Schloss has recounted her experiences more than 1,000 times worldwide since 1985, when she started telling her story.

"It took me 40 years to talk about," Schloss said, adding that she tried to push the experience aside and get on with a "normal" life. "But stuff was still there."

"I am an optimist," Schloss added. "Slowly I was able to work through it."

After moving to England, Schloss said she learned more of other religions and backgrounds, and she did not notice a lot of differences between the religions and belief systems.

"We all want really the same (things)," Schloss said.

Schloss said she still feels sadness for refugees around the world who are persecuted, like she was.

"That makes me really sad that the world hasn't learned from these events," she said.

Want to hear Eva Schloss speak?

What: A Night with a Holocaust Survivor, Anne Frank's Stepsister Eva Schloss

When: 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 18. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Where: Colorado State University Lory Student Center Grand Ballroom

Cost: Free, but tickets are required. Tickets do not guarantee a seat.

Tickets and more information: csutix.com or holocaust.colostate.edu

Sady Swanson covers crime, courts, public safety and more throughout Northern Colorado. You can send your story ideas to her at sswanson@coloradoan.com or on Twitter at @sadyswan.