ANNE Frank's step sister will visit the Island in the new year to talk about surviving Auschwitz and to raise the profile of a new exhibition about the tragic diarist.
Islanders are urged to book a place at the black-tie fundraising dinner at the Mount Murray on Saturday, January 30, where Eva Schloss will be the guest speaker.
The evening hopes to raise the money needed to host The Anne Frank + You IoM Exhibition in St German's Cathedral, Peel, throughout March.
>> Major Anne Frank exhibition to visit Isle of Man29 July 2009As persecutions of the Jewish population increased in July 1942, the Frank family went into hiding in Amsterdam.
After two years, they were betrayed and transported to the Nazi concentration camps.
Seven months after her arrest, Anne died of typhus aged 15 in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
Her father Otto, the only survivor of the family, returned to Amsterdam after the war to find that her diary had been saved, and his efforts led to its publication in 1947.
The exhibition is organised by the Anne Frank Trust UK which is dedicated to educating young people on how to create a respectful and responsible society by tackling racism and prejudice through innovative educational programmes.
The trust was set up in 1990 by friends and family of Otto to carry out his wish to see a unique educational organisation in Britain in his daughter's memory.
More than 100,000 people in schools and local communities have already benefited from the trust's work this year.
Parties of children from all the Island's schools will visit the exhibition, which particularly backs the anti-bullying schemes currently running.
Eva Schloss' mother married Anne's father after the war in 1953.
She survived the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp as a teenager. It took her 40 years to be able talk about it.
Now in her 80s, she devotes her life to educating people around the world about the importance of tolerance and respect for difference.
The exhibition fundraising event will include a three-course dinner after which Eva will tell her story.
The evening will then end with footage of some of the UK children who have visited the travelling exhibition.
There will be a charity raffle during the evening – for which good quality prizes are still needed.
The dinner will begin at 8pm and end at midnight, and will cost £60 per person.
Individual seats and tables of 10 are available.Reservations need to be made by December 15.
Details about the dinner and how to book are available from Carol Jempson at capajem@manx.net or Cath Quirk on 840242 or 485654.
