Alice Herz Sommer, 108-Year-Old Holocaust Survivor, On Conquering Hate (VIDEO)

By DailyGood

At age 108, Holocaust survivor Alice Herz Sommer still practices piano for three hours every day. At age 104, she had a book written about her life: "A Garden Of Eden In Hell."

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At age 83, she had cancer. Alice survived the concentration camps through her music, her optimism and her gratitude for the small things that came her way - a smile, a kind word, the sun. When asked about the secret of her longevity, Alice says: "I look where it is good."

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Comments

[barefootdesigns]

01:01 PM on 04/26/2012

Thank you Alice! Dear Lady, because of you I am more hopeful. You have touched me and raised my spirit. You go girl!!

[wendysolganik]

02:46 PM on 04/19/2012

It's interesting. She says she is Jewish without religion, but who is all of this gratitude directed to? There is only one place to direct your gratitude and that is, to God. That's a very, very Jewish concept. Woman has a Jewish soul, whether she wants it or not!

[Gib]

02:31 AM on 08/05/2012

You might as well direct it to a pebble, or a leaf.

[JoblessinScranton]

10:28 PM on 04/16/2012

I've watched a few of Alice's interviews and she always just seems so serene and peaceful. I thin she must be an angel who's been sent to earth to remind the rest of us to be grateful.

[JoblessinScranton]

10:25 PM on 04/16/2012

I've watched several of Alice's videos and there is just something about her that is so peaceful and serene. I keep thinking that she must be an angel who's been sent to earth to remind the rest of us to be grateful.

[Republitarian]

03:39 PM on 04/16/2012

Too bad liberals want to let Iran do this again to Jews.

[Linda Moyer]

08:27 AM on 04/22/2012

Idiotic comment. Totally untrue and absurd. Living in a bubble of smug arrogance? I think yes.

[Gib]

02:31 AM on 08/05/2012

Too bad that you are a duckwit.

[CraigVale]

09:26 AM on 04/15/2012

To have people who flat out deny the horrors of the holocaust or minimize its impact on millions of lives still to this day, saddens me deeply. I often wonder what the motive is for these people.I seriously doubt that the vast majority of them don't acknowledge the inhumanity to themselves so why would they publicly deny the genocide ? Other than holding a tremendous hatred for Jews, what in the world could possibly be their agenda ? The evidence is undeniable but they still try to convince others that the Holocaust is fictional and that those 6 million folks somehow passed from this earth........ Through a wormhole perhaps?
It's beyond credulity but the lie continues with these haters.

[Denni]

12:52 PM on 04/10/2012

She is a gift to humanity!

[bluehand]

11:56 AM on 04/10/2012

I'm smiling now, with gratitude for this lovely story.

[barbara0309]

09:32 AM on 04/10/2012

This lady is a joy, and what a true inspiration.

Tony Robbins.....a bit annoying (to me), but she actually LIVES her life this way, not just talks to others (for money) about it.

I hope to gain much more of her outlook as I grow older.

[vividrick]

06:49 AM on 04/10/2012

"All that complain, this is terrible...it's not so terrible."

FANTASTIC!...a London lady, and we're damn proud to have her! She's another 'Pianist'. :-)
A brilliant example of humanity & perseverence. Watch this & weep all you neo-fascist pond-life out there.

"Hatred eats the soul of the hater, not the hated"...

...Brilliant!

[askonemom]

11:29 AM on 04/10/2012

Could not have said it better! Thanks!

[infodoc1]

04:19 AM on 04/10/2012

This is a great story, and she is an amazing woman. At the same time, I have to take issue with her advice, which I frequently hear, to focus on the good and ignore the bad. There are a great many problems that won't be fixed by looking the other way.

[Dr Jbox]

05:48 AM on 04/10/2012

It's a question of balance. If you see it as a black-or-white issue, then yes you'll take issue with it. But in reality, no one ignores ALL of the bad. The point is, when you get too far on the side of obsessing about the bad, to the point where it is affecting your happiness and mental health, it's time to move in the opposite direction. When you've undergone such excessive torment as she has, then maybe it's okay to concentrate on healing yourself and let other people take the reigns and fix the world for a while. I do get what you mean, and I also take issue with the way some people use stories like this, as a way to say, "See? This woman doesn't complain, so I don't want to hear it from you, either!" I've been abused like that during my struggle with chronic illness. So stories like this can set me off, even though I know that, taken at face value, they are very true and very helpful for me.

[redheaded stranger]

10:10 AM on 04/10/2012

Hi, I don't think the lady was advocating turning a blind eye to "the bad". I took it as her trying to stay in a good place in her head. It's too easy to get the mindset where everything is bad, people are bad, life is bad. Do you really want all that negativity rolling around in your head? Not me. I'm trying to keep good thoughts in the gray matter where it really matters and work on changing stuff I don't like in the outer world.

[Lifer2006]

02:28 AM on 04/10/2012

What a remarkable woman.

[thegriffinite]

12:18 AM on 04/10/2012

I was expecting a longer article.

[anilimili1]

11:07 PM on 04/09/2012

There are people's whose life is far bigger than their bodies and whose soul shines brighter than most--she certainly is one of those people in my view.
Choosing to not hate (and it is a choice) is very difficult, and most of us deal with far less hateful things than the holocaust. But chosing to not hate is also the bravest, most liberating thing one can do. She says that everything is a gift. Well, she certainly is!

[KOisGod]

08:22 PM on 04/09/2012

Thank you dear site, for posting this today.

I needed to see it. And nice to see Tony Robbins doing this. I feel that like Wayne Dyer, he will become more spiritual with time, and delve into the nature of our souls, for there, is our secret to inner joy and ultimately, our survival.