Alice Herz-Sommer is 110 years old today. Anyone reaching 110 is special but Alice has defied more odds than most. Born in Prague in 1903, she was a professional musician. When the Nazis came, she was shipped to Terezin (Theresienstadt) where she played in the notorious camp orchestra. Even then, she was unusual because she had a young son to live for. He made her laugh when he
sang songs from
Brundibar. To laugh, in a concentration camp? But that sums up Alice's personality. When she was "just" 97, she told Christopher Nupen in his film "We Want the Light" that her twin sister was a pessimist
and that "tension" shortened her
life. "Nature and music, that is
my religion" she says, her face
lighting up radiantly. "I am grateful
to my mother who wanted us to learn,
to know, to be thankful for everything
..... seeing the sun, seeing a smile,
hearing a nice word. Everything is a
present to be thankful for".
"Life is a gift", she often said. "Hatred eats the soul of the hater, not that of the hated" Alice is an inspiration, positive therapy in human form. She's had a tough life, but hasn't become bitter. "Music is God", she has said, in
difficult times you feel it most". Think of the famous quandary, is a
glass half full or half empty? But the glass is always full. The other half is air, without which we cannot live. Drink it
gratefully! Some people, alas, get their kicks out of being miserable
and inflicting it on everyone else. Not Alice!
The Prague Monitor carries a report today of Alice's birthday. "Her health has finally started to fade, and her family has requested
that she is given her peace from the media. Her birthday will be spent
without visitors and fuss, and her grandson Ariel will spend the day by
her side at her flat. He said: “The image given on the internet is that she is quite active
but the reality is quite the opposite and in fact her health is failing
both physically and mentally, unfortunately”.
It's not how long you live, some have said, but how well you have lived. Not in material terms, but in terms of what you've learned and given back to others. In that sense Alice will be immortal.
Once I met Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and told her how she inspired me."But I didn't do anything, I just survived", she said, which is an understatement, but utterly sincere. People take responsibility for themselves. Another camp inmate (also with a young son) told me about grass shoots
emerging from the ground after a hard winter."We ate them" she said,
totally matter-of-fact.
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