In Memorium

By Davidduff

Or perhaps "lest we forget" might have been as appropriate when considering this lady who has just died at the age  of 110 years.

Her name was Alice Herz-Sommer and according to the story in The Telegraph she was reckoned to be the last survivor of the concentration camps.  Born in Prague from a musical family from Moravia she married another musician by whom she had a son.  During the war her entire family was rounded up and sent to the Theresienstadt camp but her husband was sent to Auschwitz from whence he never returned.  Her own skill as a superb pianist helped both her and her son's survival in the camp.  After the war she emigrated to Israel but then moved to London to be near her family.  In her own words:

Music saved my life and music saves me still... I am Jewish, but Beethoven is my religion.

There are no words which can avoid sounding trite except perhaps, may she now rest in peace.