Alice Herz-Sommer
| Alice Herz-Sommer | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Aliza Herz 26 November 1903 Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 23 February 2014 (aged 110 years, 89 days) London, England |
| Residence | London, England |
| Occupation | Pianist, music teacher |
| Known for | World's oldest Holocaust-survivor/ musician |
| Spouse(s) | Leopold Sommer (musician) (m. 1931–1945; his death) |
| Children | 1 |
 Learning to play the piano, Alice Herz-Sommer interview, 4:58, 1st of 12 parts, Web of Stories, 22 October 2008 |
Alice Herz-Sommer, also known as Alice Sommer (26 November 1903 – 23 February 2014), was a Prague-born Jewish pianist, music teacher, and supercentenarian who survived Theresienstadt concentration camp. She lived for 40 years in Israel, before migrating to London in 1986, where she resided until her death, and at the age of 110 was the world's oldest known Holocaust survivor until Yisrael Kristal was recognized as such. Kristal was also a Holocaust survivor, and was born two months before Herz-Sommer.
Aliza Herz was born in Prague, in the Kingdom of Bohemia (a part of Austria-Hungary), to Friedrich and Sofie "Gigi" Herz. Herz's family was part of the small German-speaking minority of assimilated Jews in Prague, although Herz stated that she also spoke Czech. Her father was a merchant and her mother was highly educated and moved in circles of well-known writers. She had two sisters, including a twin sister, Mariana, and two brothers. Her parents ran a cultural salon where Herz, as a child, met writers including Franz Kafka and Franz Werfel, composers including Gustav Mahler, philosophers, and intellectuals such as Sigmund Freud. Herz once noted that "Kafka was a slightly strange man. He used to come to our house, sit and talk with my mother, mainly about his writing. He did not talk a lot, but rather loved quiet and nature. We frequently went on trips together. I remember that Kafka took us to a very nice place outside Prague. We sat on a bench and he told us stories." Herz's sister Irma was married to Felix Weltsch, was a prominent German-language Jewish philosopher, journalist, librarian, and Zionist who later worked as a librarian in Jerusalem after his emigration from Austria.
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