You know those stories that you hear every now and again that just sort of strike you? The ones that you call inspirational? The ones that make you think for hours? That’s what the documentary “Alice: Dancing Under the Gallows” did to me.

It is a story about Alice Herz-Sommer who, at age 106, is now the oldest living Holocaust survivor in the world.  Because of her musical ability, she was brought to a Nazi concentration camp that was designed to deceive the world and show that the Jews in Europe were treated well. Despite this, she nor any of the other inhabitants were treated nicely.  Yet unlike many other Jews living in other camps, they were not killed.  The documentary shows how because of her talent and love for piano, she survived.  Her extremely positive view on life is what keeps her going today.

As a piano student, I found this video to be inspirational and pleasing.  I am not very experienced with the piano, and as much as I like it, I dread practicing.  This documentary, however, made me want to practice more, because it reminded me how beautiful and useful (particularly in Herz-Sommer’s case) the music I can make is.  Please enjoy the documentary, and I hope it moves you as it did me.