A Garden of Eden in Hell: The Life of Alice Herz-Sommer

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: The Life of Alice Herz-sommer

Biographies & Memoirs

Müller, Melissa

Piechocki, Reinhard

Historical

MACMILLAN PUB. LTD.

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.

Anne Frank : The Biography

For people all over the world, Anne Frank, the vivacious, intelligent Jewish girl with a crooked smile and huge dark eyes, has become the "human face of the Holocaust." Her diary of twenty-five months in hiding, a precious record of her struggle to keep hope alive through the darkest days of this century, has touched the hearts of millions. Here, after five decades, is the first biography of this remarkable figure. Drawing on exclusive interviews with family and friends, on previously unavailable correspondence, and on documents long kept secret, Melissa Muller creates a nuanced portrait of her famous subject. This is the flesh-and-blood Anne Frank, unsentimentalized and therefore all the more affecting - Anne Frank restored to history. Muller traces Anne's life from her idyllic childhood in an assimilated family, long established in Frankfurt banking circles, to her passionate adolescence in German-occupied Amsterdam and her desperate end in Bergen-Belsen at the age of sixteen. Full of revelations, this biography casts new light on Anne's relations with her mother, whom she treats harshly in the diary, and solves an enduring mystery: who betrayed the families hiding in the annex just when liberation was at hand?

Anne Frank: The Biography

Children's Books

Biographies

Demco Media

For people all over the world, Anne Frank, the vivacious, intelligent Jewish girl with a crooked smile and huge dark eyes, has become the "human face of the Holocaust". Here after five decades, is the first biography of this remarkable figure.

Literature & Fiction

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

With an Epilogue by Miep Giess The first biography of the girl whose fate has touched the lives of millions. For people all over the world, Anne Frank, the vivacious, intelligent Jewish girl with a crooked smile and huge dark eyes, has become the "human face of the Holocaust." Her diary of twenty-five months in hiding, a precious record of her struggle to keep hope alive through the darkest days of this century, has touched the hearts of millions. Here, after five decades, is the first biography of this remarkable figure. Drawing on exclusive interviews with family and friends, on previously unavailable correspondence, and on documents long kept secret, Melissa Muller creates a nuanced portrait of her famous subject. This is the flesh-and-blood Anne Frank, unsentimentalized and so all the more affecting--Anne Frank restored to history. Muller traces Frank's life from an idyllic childhood in an assimilated family well established in Frankfurt banking circles to her passionate adolescence in German-occupied Amsterdam and her desperate in Bergen Belsen at the age of sixteen. Full of revelations, this richly textured biography casts new light on Anne's relations with her mother, whom she treats harshly in the diary, and solves an enduring mystery: who betrayed the families hiding in the annex just when liberation was at hand? This is an indispensable volume for all those who seek a deeper, richer understanding of Anne Frank and the brutal times in which she lived and died.

Community & Culture

Metropolitan Books

Updated and filled with striking new revelations, the bestselling, "superb" biography that "honors in full a life we thought we knew" (Newsweek)
Praised as "remarkable," "meticulous," and "long overdue," Anne Frank: The Biography, originally published in 1998, still stands as the definitive account of the girl who has become "the human face of the Holocaust." For this nuanced portrait of her famous subject, biographer Melissa Müller drew on exclusive interviews with family and friends as well as on previously unavailable correspondence, even, in the process, discovering five missing diary pages. Full of revelations, Müller's richly textured narrative returned Anne Frank to history, portraying the flesh-and-blood girl unsentimentalized and so all the more affecting.
Now, fifteen years after the book first appeared, much new information has come to light: letters sent by Otto Frank to relatives in America as he sought to emigrate with his family, the identity of other suspects involved in the betrayal of the Franks, and important details about the family's arrest and subsequent fate. Revised and updated with more than thirty percent new material, this is an indispensable volume for all those who seek a deeper understanding of Anne Frank and the brutal times in which she lived and died.

Anne Frank: The Biography: Updated and Expanded with New Material

The first book to explore in depth the wonders of Sicilian cooking. For millennia, Sicily has been a global crossroads, its cuisine marked by the different conquering groups drawn to its natural riches, from the Greeks and Arabs to the Normans and Spanish. The food is in essence Italian, but accented with exotic Mediterranean touches: pesto punched up with capers, gelato made with pistachios, pasta laced with saffron, and a penchant for sweet-and-sour preparations like caponata and strong flavors like wild fennel and oregano. Sicily tells the wonderful histories behind the classic dishes but also shows how contemporary chefs and home cooks are reinvigorating recipes in modern ways. The product of years of careful research, Sicily gives a tour of the land’s culinary treasures, from the couscous of Lo Capo and the vines of Mt. Etna to the sea salt of Trapani and the black pigs of Mirto. The book gives foolproof instructions for all the cardinal dishes such as Arancini, Pasta with Sardines, and Swordfish Involtini, but there are also plenty of delicious contemporary recipes, such as Eggplant Parmigiana in a Glass, Butternut Squash Caponata, and Cannoli Millefoglie. Complete with travel notes and addresses to plan a trip, Sicily is sure to enchant readers everywhere. “Melissa shares her lifelong passion for Sicilian food, through firsthand narrative loaded with recipes and beautiful photographs, giving us an insider’s view of this magical island.” —Mike Colameco, host of Mike Colameco’s Real Food

Sicily: The Cookbook: Recipes Rooted in Traditions

Cookbooks, Food & Wine

Cooking Methods

Rizzoli

The legendary names include Rothschild, Mendelssohn, Bloch-Bauer—distinguished bankers, industrialists, diplomats, and art collectors. Their diverse taste ranged from manuscripts and musical instruments to paintings by Old Masters and the avant-garde. But their stigma as Jews in Nazi Germany and occupied Europe doomed them to exile or death in Hitler’s concentration camps. Here, after years of meticulous research, Melissa Müller (Anne Frank: The Biography) and Monika Tatzkow (Nazi Looted Art) present the tragic, compelling stories of 15 Jewish collectors, the dispersal of their extraordinary collections through forced sale and/or confiscation, and the ongoing efforts of their heirs to recover their inheritance. For every victory in the effort to return these works to their rightful heirs, there are daunting defeats and long court battles. This real-life legal thriller follows works by Rembrandt, Klimt, Pissarro, Kandinsky, and others. Praise for Lost Lives, Lost Art: “A heartbreaking and enthralling story of the brutal and mindless Nazi destruction of a singularly cultivated caste of rich German and Austrian Jews and the pillage of their great art collections: a world that was lost and could never be recreated.” ~ Louis Begley "Each chapter focuses on a single collector. . . the adulatory profiles [are] matched with an attractive layout and an abundance of well-selected images." ~ Wall Street Journal "The book is meticulously researched, brilliantly and dispassionately written, and is in all likelihood a game changer in the world of art, art provenance, and art restitution that will resound for years to come."~ ForeWord Reviews "Richly illustrated with excellent art reproductions and family photographs, this is a solid addition to works on Nazi art plundering and the world of art restitution, ownership, and property rights. This will be of great interest to readers wanting to know more about upper-class Austrian and German Jews. Recommended." ~ Library Journal

Lost Lives, Lost Art: Jewish Collectors, Nazi Art Theft, and the Quest for Justice

Arts & Photography

Tatzkow, Monika

History & Criticism

Vendome Press

How music provided hope in one of the world's darkest times―the inspirational life story of Alice Herz-Sommer, the oldest living Holocaust survivor
Alice Herz-Sommer was born in Prague in 1903. A talented pianist from a very early age, she became famous throughout Europe; but, as the Nazis rose to power, her world crumbled. In 1942, her mother was deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp and vanished. In 1943, Alice, her husband and their six-year-old son were sent there, too. In the midst of horror, music, especially Chopin's Etudes, was Alice's salvation. Theresienstadt was a "show camp", a living slice of Nazi propaganda created to convince outsiders that the Jews were being treated humanely. In more than a hundred concerts, Alice gave her fellow prisoners hope in a time of suffering. Written with the cooperation of Alice Herz-Sommer, Melissa Müller and Reinhard Piechocki's Alice's Piano is the first time her story has been told. At 107 years old, she continues to play her piano in London and bring hope to many.

Alice's Piano: The Life of Alice Herz-Sommer

Humor & Entertainment

St.Martin's Press

UPDATED AND FILLED WITH STRIKING NEW REVELATIONS, THE BESTSELLING, "SUPERB" BIOGRAPHY THAT "HONORS IN FULL A LIFE WE THOUGHT WE KNEW" (NEWSWEEK)
Praised as "remarkable," "meticulous," and "long overdue," Anne Frank: The Biography, originally published in 1998, still stands as the definitive account of the girl who has become "the human face of the Holocaust." Full of revelations, Müller's richly textured narrative returned Anne Frank to history, portraying the flesh-and-blood girl unsentimentalized and so all the more affecting.
Now, sixteen years after the book first appeared, much new information has come to light: letters sent by Otto Frank to relatives in America as he sought to emigrate with his family, the identity of other suspects involved in the betrayal of the Franks, and important details about the family's arrest and subsequent fate. Revised and updated with more than thirty percent new material, this is an indispensable volume for all those who seek a deeper understanding of Anne Frank and the brutal times in which she lived and died.

Picador

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Müller, Melissa. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Müller, Melissa

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Müller, Melissa. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

A Garden of Eden in Hell: The Life of Alice Herz-sommer

A Garden of Eden in Hell: The Life of Alice Herz-Sommer

Anne Frank: The Biography

Anne Frank: The Biography

Anne Frank : The Biography

Anne Frank: The Biography: Updated and Expanded with New Material

Sicily: The Cookbook: Recipes Rooted in Traditions

Lost Lives, Lost Art: Jewish Collectors, Nazi Art Theft, and the Quest for Justice

Alice's Piano: The Life of Alice Herz-Sommer

Anne Frank: The Biography: Updated and Expanded with New Material