The Lady In Number 6: Music Saved My Life (2013)

The Lady In Number 6 - 2013

Coming up next is an award winning documentary short entitled "The Lady In Number 6: Music Saved My Life".  Released in 2013, this short film documents the story of the world's oldest Holocaust survivor, 109-year-old Alice Herz-Sommer.

At the age of 109, Alice Herz-Sommer is the world's oldest Holocaust survivor.  Her naturally infectious joy exudes warmth.  She's also an extremely accomplished pianist, and still plays the piano.  Many of her building's residents will stop and listen as they hear her play Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, etc.  "My world is music.  I'm not interested in anything else," she says.

Alice lives alone.  She keeps active by having friends over daily for a game of Scrabble or a chat.  "I love people.  I love to speak with them.  I’m interested in the lives of other people."  She also keeps her mind sharp by playing extremely complicated musical pieces from memory.

Alice was born in 1903 in Prague.  Her parents were friends of such cultural icons as Franz Kafka, Gustav Mahler, and Sigmund Freud.  Alice recalls how Franz Kafka would take her and her twin sister on outings.  These early associations with culture stayed with Alice forever.  "My opinion is what we learn in school it is important.  But much more important is the atmosphere...intellectual atmosphere of your parents in your home.  This goes with you ‘til your end."  She grew up giving piano concerts in her home, which were attended by famous artists.

Alice met and married a talented violinist named Leopold.  They had one son Raphael.  Their happy existence continued until World War II when the Nazis took Leopold away.  She never saw him again.

Eventually, the Nazis came for Alice and her son.  They were sent to Theresienstadt.  Alice's musical abilities came under the notice of the Nazis and they recruited her to play concerts.  She performed in over 100 of these propaganda concerts, which intended to show how well Jewish people were treated in concentration camps.  Alice says that music is what got her through.  It brought her hope.

After their years in the concentration camp, Alice and her son lived in Israel and then in London.  Her son became an accomplished cellist.

As Alice looks back over a long and eventful life, she says, "It depends on me whether life is good or not.  On me.  Not on life.  On me."

Cast rundown:

   Alice Herz-Sommer...............................Herself

   Zdenka Fantlova...................................Herself

   Anita Lasker-Wallfisch...........................Herself

And that's all for "The Lady In Number 6: Music Saved My Life".  Alice's story is very moving, and it's very beautifully told.  Additional Holocaust survivor stories are told by Alice's friends, author Zdenka Fantlova, and renowned cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch.  Alice passed away at the age of 110 and just one week before this film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary, Short Subject.

You can watch about 10 minutes of the documentary here.  The full-length version is about 40 minutes.

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