Alice Herz-Sommer, an accomplished pianist and a Holocaust survivor, died at the age of 110 Sunday morning in London.
Herz-Sommer was believed to be the oldest living Holocaust survivor. She is the focus of the documentary “The Lady in Number 6,” which is nominated for an Academy Award. (Via YouTube / allegrofilms)
The documentary highlights Herz-Sommer’s experiences in the Terezin concentration camp, and the skill that kept her and her son alive.
“Trying to figure out how to survive. Knowing that any minute she would have to get up and perform and if she didn’t please her captors she and her son would be exterminated that day.” (Via Youtube / Everyone Matters)
“The fact that she was a pianist may have helped her survive at a German concentration camp. Along with other musicians, she performed concerts at that camp.” (Via NBC )
Israeli newspaper Ynetfirst reported her death, with her grandson telling the paper “She passed away peacefully, with her family by her side. … She was our inspiration and our world will be significantly duller without her in it.”
Herz-Sommer’s death came as a shock to those who worked with her. The producer of the documentary, Frederic Bohbot told CBC, “We all came to believe that she would just never die.”
Herz-Sommer’s life has been the subject of two books in addition to the documentary. No funeral arrangements have been announced yet.
