Alice Herz-Sommer
A pianist whose music became a lifeline in a concentration camp, and whose optimistic spirit made her the world's oldest Holocaust survivor.
1903–2014 (age 111)·Israeli classical pianist·Birthday: November 26·The Greatest Generation
Biography
Alice Herz-Sommer's life was a century-long sonata of resilience. A gifted pianist from Prague's cultured circles, she studied under virtuosos and built a performing career. The Nazi invasion shattered that world, sending her and her young son to the Theresienstadt ghetto. There, she played over a hundred concerts, her renditions of Chopin and Beethoven offering fleeting transcendence to fellow prisoners and disquieting propaganda for their captors. She believed the music saved her life. After liberation, she rebuilt in Israel, teaching for decades with a profound, hard-won philosophy: she focused on beauty, refused hatred, and cherished every day. Her later years in London became a quiet legend; as a supercentenarian, she remained sharp, playing piano daily and astonishing all who met her with a perspective forged in darkness but sustained by art and an unbreakable will to live.
The Greatest Generation
1901–1927
Grew up during the Depression, fought World War II, and built the postwar economic boom. Defined by shared sacrifice, institutional trust, and a belief that hard work and loyalty would be rewarded.
Alice was born in 1903, placing them squarely in The Greatest Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Alice Was Born
The biggest hits of 1903
Alice's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1903Born
Wright brothers achieve first powered flight
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1908Started school
Ford Model T goes into production
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1916Became a teenager
The Battle of the Somme claims over a million casualties
President: Woodrow Wilson
1919Could drive
Treaty of Versailles signed; Prohibition ratified
President: Woodrow Wilson
1921Could vote
First commercial radio broadcasts
President: Warren G. Harding"My Man" — Fanny Brice
1924Turned 21
First Winter Olympics held in Chamonix, France
President: Calvin Coolidge"It Had to Be You" — Isham Jones
1933Turned 30
FDR's New Deal launches; Prohibition ends
Gas: $0.18/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Stormy Weather" — Ethel WatersBest Picture: Cavalcade
1943Turned 40
Allies invade Sicily; Battle of Stalingrad ends
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $3,290Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I've Heard That Song Before" — Harry JamesBest Picture: Casablanca
1953Turned 50
DNA structure discovered by Watson and Crick
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,750Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Song from Moulin Rouge" — Percy FaithBest Picture: From Here to Eternity
1963Turned 60
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1973Turned 70
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1983Turned 80
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
2014Died at 111
Russia annexes Crimea; Ebola outbreak in West Africa
Gas: $3.37/galHome: $160,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Happy" — Pharrell WilliamsBest Picture: Birdman
Key Achievements
- Performed over 100 concerts while imprisoned in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, using music as spiritual resistance.
- Was recognized as the world's oldest Holocaust survivor and one of the oldest pianists, continuing to play past the age of 110.
- Built a decades-long career as a revered piano teacher in Israel after emigrating from Czechoslovakia.
Did You Know?
Her sister was married to the writer Felix Weltsch, a close friend of Franz Kafka.
She practiced piano for several hours every day, even past her 110th birthday.
A documentary about her life, 'The Lady in Number 6,' won an Academy Award in 2014.
“I look at the good. When you are old, you think back. You think of the beautiful things.”
