Alice Herz-Sommer was born in 1903 in Prague—the Prague of the Hapsburgs and of Franz Kafka, a family friend. Musically very gifted, by her mid-teens Alice was one of the best-known pianists in Prague. But as the Nazis swept across Europe her comfortable, bourgeois world began to crumble around her, as anti-Jewish feeling not only intensified but was legitimized. In 1942, Alice's mother was deported. Desperately unhappy, she resolved to learn Chopin's 24 Etudes—the most technically demanding piano pieces she knew—and the complex but beautiful music saved her sanity. A year later, she, too—together with her husband and their six-year-old son—was deported to a concentration camp. But even in Theresienstadt, music was her salvation and in the course of more than 100 concerts she gave her fellow prisoners hope in a world of pain and death. This is her remarkable story, but it is also the story of a mother's struggle to create a happy childhood for her beloved only son in the midst of atrocity and barbarism. Of 15,000 children sent to the camp, Raphael was one of the 130 who survived. Today, Alice Herz-Sommer lives in London and she still plays the piano every day.
A Garden of Eden in Hell
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Browse our Bookshelf Favorites store for big savings on popular fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and more. |
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Melissa Müller is a journalist, the author of Anne Frank: The Biography, and the coauthor of Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary, which was translated into more than 20 languages. Reinhard Piechocki is the author of a number of works of cultural history and has been a close friend of Alice Herz-Sommer’s for many years.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
Share your thoughts with other customers
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
WARNING: A READER HAS COMPLAINED THAT THIS REVIEW GIVES THE STORY AWAY, AND THEY HAS SAID (S)HE WOULD NOT NOW BUY THE BOOK. I AM SORRY (S)HE IS DENYING HIM/HERSELF A GREAT EXPERIENCE, WHICH WOULD GO FAR BEYOND WHAT (S)HE LEARNED FROM MY REVIEW, AS THE 15 WHO SO FAR HAVE FOUND IT HELPFUL WILL ATTEST.
Music could always transport Alice Sommer into an autonomous paradisical world. This helped her when the real world turned hellish under the Nazis; and the central part of the book is about those years.
She was born in 1903 into a Jewish, acculturated and German-speaking family in Prague. She started playing the piano at a very young age, and at 21, made her debut as soloist with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1931 she married Leopold Sommer and their son Stephan (later to be called Raphael) was born in 1937.
With the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939 their lives changed swiftly, with humiliating restrictions being imposed on Jews day after day. And then the deportations began. First, in July 1942 her 72-year old mother was deported from her Old Age Home to Theresienstadt (and from there to the Treblinka death camp). Then a year later, in July 1943, it was the turn of Alice, Leopold and Stephan, then aged six, to be sent to Theresienstadt.
The physical conditions there were grim, but a few months before the Sommers arrived, the SS had decided to turn it into a `show camp= for observers from the International Red Cross - and so the deportees were provided with musical instruments (which had been confiscated from Jews) and were allowed to arrange their own entertainment. Alice gave many recitals, and the descriptions of these are very moving. Stephan, who was musically even more precocious than his mother had been at that age, was quickly roped in to rehearse and perform in Brundibar, the opera specially composed for the children in the camp.
As defeat for Germany drew nearer in the autumn of 1944, the SS, possibly fearing an uprising of the able-bodied men in Theresienstadt, decided to send them to the extermination camps. Alice=s husband was among these: she never saw him again. She learnt later that he had survived the death-march from Auschwitz to Dachau - only to die there of typhus.
But Himmler still wanted to preserve Theresienstadt as a `model' camp and to produce it in his defence at the end of the war. Alice had to work an eight hour day in barracks where slates were broken up to make insulating materials, work which was particularly hard on her hands; but in the evening she would often perform in the concerts that continued to be staged.
In May 1945 Theresienstadt was liberated and in mid-June Alice and Stephan were able to return to Prague and to continue their music al lives there.
But after the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia in 1948, it again became dangerous to speak freely. In March 1949 Alice decided to move with her son to Israel, where she was to live for the next 37 years. There her musical career as performer and teacher continued, while Raphael in due course became a cellist of world stature. After his marriage in 1966, he and his wife were based in London, and there Alice joined him in 1986.
The book ends with the saddest thing that can afflict a loving mother: in 2001 Raphael Sommer died of a heart attack while on a concert tour in Israel. Alice was then 98, and coped with this grief as she had coped with so many other crises in her life, drawing some comfort from music (she still plays the piano in her Hampstead home for three hours every day). Never did she give way to bitterness; she always remained life-affirming; her philosophy eschewed hatred, whether for Germans or for Arabs. Her 100th birthday drew tributes from people from many lands. This moving book is one of them.
Music could always transport Alice Sommer into an autonomous paradisical world. This helped her when the real world turned hellish under the Nazis; and the central part of the book is about those years.
She was born in 1903 into a Jewish, acculturated and German-speaking family in Prague. She started playing the piano at a very young age, and at 21, made her debut as soloist with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1931 she married Leopold Sommer and their son Stephan (later to be called Raphael) was born in 1937.
With the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939 their lives changed swiftly, with humiliating restrictions being imposed on Jews day after day. And then the deportations began. First, in July 1942 her 72-year old mother was deported from her Old Age Home to Theresienstadt (and from there to the Treblinka death camp). Then a year later, in July 1943, it was the turn of Alice, Leopold and Stephan, then aged six, to be sent to Theresienstadt.
The physical conditions there were grim, but a few months before the Sommers arrived, the SS had decided to turn it into a `show camp= for observers from the International Red Cross - and so the deportees were provided with musical instruments (which had been confiscated from Jews) and were allowed to arrange their own entertainment. Alice gave many recitals, and the descriptions of these are very moving. Stephan, who was musically even more precocious than his mother had been at that age, was quickly roped in to rehearse and perform in Brundibar, the opera specially composed for the children in the camp.
As defeat for Germany drew nearer in the autumn of 1944, the SS, possibly fearing an uprising of the able-bodied men in Theresienstadt, decided to send them to the extermination camps. Alice=s husband was among these: she never saw him again. She learnt later that he had survived the death-march from Auschwitz to Dachau - only to die there of typhus.
But Himmler still wanted to preserve Theresienstadt as a `model' camp and to produce it in his defence at the end of the war. Alice had to work an eight hour day in barracks where slates were broken up to make insulating materials, work which was particularly hard on her hands; but in the evening she would often perform in the concerts that continued to be staged.
In May 1945 Theresienstadt was liberated and in mid-June Alice and Stephan were able to return to Prague and to continue their music al lives there.
But after the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia in 1948, it again became dangerous to speak freely. In March 1949 Alice decided to move with her son to Israel, where she was to live for the next 37 years. There her musical career as performer and teacher continued, while Raphael in due course became a cellist of world stature. After his marriage in 1966, he and his wife were based in London, and there Alice joined him in 1986.
The book ends with the saddest thing that can afflict a loving mother: in 2001 Raphael Sommer died of a heart attack while on a concert tour in Israel. Alice was then 98, and coped with this grief as she had coped with so many other crises in her life, drawing some comfort from music (she still plays the piano in her Hampstead home for three hours every day). Never did she give way to bitterness; she always remained life-affirming; her philosophy eschewed hatred, whether for Germans or for Arabs. Her 100th birthday drew tributes from people from many lands. This moving book is one of them.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By jen2dogs
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A compelling true story about an amazing lady, with a strong will to survive and protect her son. To say music is her life is an understatement. Her music and faith in human being has kept her going, despite the horrors she has endured during her lifetime, including being incarcerated in a concentration camp and losing most of her family. She is still able to play the piano and entertain friends daily at the age of 107 and sees the good in people. Delivery of this book was speedy from overseas and the book was just as described, in excellent condition. Recommended as an excellent read and I found it very hard to put the book down once I started to read it.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
As I was scanning through a newspaper I stumbled on an article about the life of Alice Herz-Sommer which immediately interested me. The book is superlatively inspiring and heartwarming, one that I would highly recommend to everyone.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
A Garden of Eden in Hell
Lots of substance but many errors in translation. Reads like a history lesson. It was a disappointment but I plodded through it.
Published 19 days ago by Dr. Gail Lockart
3.0 out of 5 stars
Too much propaganda...
Don't get me wrong, I hate the whole thing about holocaust as much as every abuse and discrimination between the powerful and the weak. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Alberto Consejo
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful to appreciate music even in the face of death
I enjoyed reading this book and would give it 5 stars if I hadn't studied emotional incest and could see it clearly between her and her son. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Beate Frome
1.0 out of 5 stars
If anyone remembers reading Villette by Charlotte Bronte
then you need not bother to read the beginning of this book. Come on, do you expect me to believe that Little Alice would remember every little conversation, dress, food and... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Prabal Guha Biswas
4.0 out of 5 stars
Alice Herz-Sommer has an amazingly positive attitude.
Alice Herz-Sommer has had a painful and diffcult life, but through all or her struggles, she has remained positive. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Pat N
5.0 out of 5 stars
Garden of Eden in Hell
what a great read. what an amazing woman, even today at 108 she still practices the piano
4 hours a day. We could all learn from her positive attitude. Read more
4 hours a day. We could all learn from her positive attitude. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Tari
5.0 out of 5 stars
AMAZON in my library.
AMAZON came through promptly with my Kindle
editon of A GARDEN OF EDEN IN HELL.
Everone should read this book. Thanks!
editon of A GARDEN OF EDEN IN HELL.
Everone should read this book. Thanks!
Published 13 months ago by TERESA
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Been There"
Having visited Prague on many occasions, as well as Theresienstadt, I was most impressed with the stark reality of the events described in the book. Read more
Published on February 27, 2011 by David Culross
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
|
|
So You'd Like to...
Look for Similar Items by Category
- Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > Jewish
- Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Holocaust
- Books > History > Europe > Czech Republic
- Books > History > Europe > Poland
- Books > History > World > Jewish > Holocaust
- Books > Humor & Entertainment
