Performing in over 100 concerts for fellow inmates at the Theresienstadt concentration camp, Alice Herz-Sommer utilized her skills as a classical pianist to maintain a sense of order during the Second World War. Surviving the Holocaust alongside her son, she later established a long career as a music educator, ultimately living until the age of 110.
Early Development and Musical Training
Born in Prague in 1903 to Friedrich and Sofie Herz, she grew up in a household frequented by intellectuals such as Franz Kafka and Gustav Mahler. Her sister Irma provided her initial piano instruction. Encouraged by Artur Schnabel, she trained under Václav Štěpán at the German Academy of Music in Prague. In 1931, she married Leopold Sommer, with whom she had a son, Stephan, later known as Raphael.
The War Years in Theresienstadt
Following the Nazi takeover of Prague, she remained in the city to care for her ailing mother. In July 1943, she was deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. During her internment, she performed compositions by Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Schumann, and Chopin to provide solace to the camp population. Her husband, Leopold, died of typhus at Dachau shortly before the end of the conflict.
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After the Soviet liberation, she returned to Prague before emigrating to Israel in March 1949. She resided there for four decades, holding a position as a music teacher at the Jerusalem Academy of Music. In 1986, she relocated to London. She continued to practice the piano for three hours daily until her final years, residing in Belsize Park.
Legacy and Media Recognition
Her life was the subject of various media, including the book A Century of Wisdom and the documentary The Lady in Number 6, which received an Academy Award. In 2010, she received the Artis Bohemiae Amicis Medal. She passed away on 23 February 2014 and is interred at the St Pancras and Islington Cemetery.
Fast facts
- Born: 1903, Prague
- Died: 23 February 2014, London
- Citizenship: Czechoslovakia, Israel
- Primary Occupation: Pianist and music educator
- Award: Artis Bohemiae Amicis Medal (2010)
- Son: Raphael Sommer (1937–2001)
- Burial Site: St Pancras and Islington Cemetery
Questions readers ask
What instruments did Alice Herz-Sommer play?
She was a classical pianist.
Did she survive the Holocaust?
Yes, she survived the Theresienstadt concentration camp alongside her son, Raphael.
Where did she live after 1986?
She lived in London until her death in 2014.
Achievements
- Worked as musician, pianist and pedagogue
