Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Lady in Number 6

I had just blogged about "human wormholes", elderly people who are living links to history, and I didn't even mention Alice Herz Sommer.


To say she was a music teacher and a concert pianist was only the beginning of describing one of the most remarkable women of the 20th (and 21st) century.

She had her own Facebook page, at the age of 110.  I had been one of her fans.

A documentary based on her life had recently been nominated for an Oscar in Best Short Documentary. It had been released in some 100 theaters two days before her death.

She faced and survived horrors most of us can not even imagine, as a concentration camp survivor during World War II. Her mother and her husband died in the camp. Her six year old son survived, but she ended up outliving him.

Alice Herz Sommer, died Sunday at age 110, surrounded by her family. 

Despite her experiences, she never lost faith in humanity. Here are a few of her quotes:

"I look at the good. When you are relaxed, your body is always relaxed. When you are pessimistic, your body behaves in an unnatural way. It is up to us whether we look at the good or the bad. When you are nice to others, they are nice to you. When you give, you receive."

“Only when we are so old, only, are we aware of the beauty of life.” 

And

“Hatred eats the soul of the hater, not the hated.”

A remarkable woman. Let us celebrate her remarkable life.

6 comments:

  1. I agree, remarkable woman. Thank you for sharing those very thoughtful quotes - much appreciated.

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  2. A remarkable woman. Her quotes are wise and her outlook reflects my own. I think I was born optimistic. Those who are negative or pessimistic miss out on so much. But how can they change? I tried to show the good side of life for 27 years with my first husband to no avail.

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  3. She was, indeed, remarkable. Her generation saw and survived so much.

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