World’s oldest known Holocaust survivor, born in Prague, turns 108

Alice Herz-Sommer, a Czech-born survivor of the Nazi’s ‘show camp’ at Terezín and talented pianist, attributes her longevity to optimism

Society

Brian Kenety | 25.11.2011

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Alice Herz-Sommer swam daily until the age of 97, plays Scabble at the weekend and her piano every day; she remains an eternal optimist

Seventy years ago this week, the Nazis began deporting Czech Jews to the garrison town of Terezín (Theresienstadt) in nothern Bohemia; Prague-born pianist Alice Herz-Sommer, the oldest known survivor of that Gestapo “show camp” — and of the Holocaust — this Saturday marks her 108th birthday. For all she has been through, she remains the eternal optimist: “This is the reason I am so old, even now, I am sure.”

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