Pianist, 109, Practices Every Day

Janos Gereben on October 1, 2013

On November 26, Alice Herz-Sommer will turn 110. Just as for a century before, she is practicing the piano every day. The oldest pianist and Holocaust survivor is now the subject of a new documentary, The Lady in Number 6.

In the Theresienstadt concentration camp, her mother and husband died, but Alice and her young son survived. Raphael, who became a cellist and conductor, was one of only 93 children, out of 15,000, to survive the camp. Herz-Sommer played more than 100 concerts for her fellow prisoners in the camp, giving them and herself comfort and hope.

Among other publications about her life: Alice's Piano, A Garden of Eden in Hell: The Life of Alice Herz-Sommer, and A Century of Wisdom.