13 Facts About Alice Herz

Alice Jeanette Herz was a German feminist, anti-fascist and peace activist.

Alice Herz had six siblings, five younger sisters and a younger brother, who died at the age of two.

Alice Herz finished intermediate education and studied to become a teacher, but an eye disorder prevented Herz from completing her seminars and she instead found work as a secretary for a lawyer's office.

Alice Herz married Paul Herz, a chemist and the brother of Margarete Herz, a prominent suffragette.

Shortly after the beginning of World War I, her husband was drafted into the military, with Alice Herz expecting German victory and Paul's return within months.

In 1918, with no end of the war in sight, Alice Herz began openly supporting the democratisation of Germany with fellow pro-democracy activists and feminists, who sought the implementation of the vote for women.

In 1919, the Alice Herz family moved to Berlin-Mahlsdorf, where Paul secured a position at a rubber factory.

Alice Herz solidified her decision with the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Reich Chancellor.

Alice Herz had correctly predicted that Jews and political opponents, especially left-wing, would come under heavy scrutiny, particularly after the Reichstag fire.

Helga later reapplied and was granted citizenship in 1954, but it is not clear if Alice Herz ever did so.

Alice Herz wrote an open letter, which she distributed to several friends and fellow activists before her death.

Alice Herz appealed to the American people to "awake and take action" against war, and explained her self-immolation as an attempt "to make myself heard".

Alice Herz set fire to herself on a street in Detroit on March 16,1965, at the age of 82.