The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life

The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life (2014) is a Canadian short documentary co- written and directed by Malcolm Clarke. It introduces us to Eliza Sommer-Herz, a holocaust survivor, still going strong at age 109!

Ms. Sommer-Herz was--and is--a classical musician. Although she suffered terribly during the Holocaust, she remained alive because the Nazis wanted to show outsiders that even their concentration camps contained orchestras.

Now, Ms. Sommer-Herz vividly remembers the horrors of the Holocaust, but she refuses to let her suffering define her life. She is fully alive, fully active, and still plays the piano every day.

In the film, two of her friends are visiting her, and, for some reason, they aren't listed in the credits. I would have liked to have known more about them, as well as about Ms. Sommer- Herz. However, director Clarke clearly made the decision that film this was the story of the Lady in Number 6, and that's what he presents to us.

This movie is definitely worth seeking out and viewing. It won an Oscar for Best Short Documentary, and that honor was fully deserved. It will work well on DVD. We had the privilege of seeing it at Rochester's wonderful Dryden Theatre, as part of the fabulous Rochester Jewish Film Festival.