Talk:Alice Herz

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Alice Herz (died March 26, 1965) is the first of eight Americans known to have immolated themselves in protest of the escalating Vietnam War, following the example of Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức. A longtime peace activist, she attempted suicide on March 16, 1965 in Detroit, Michigan at the age of 82 and died ten days later.

A German of Jewish descent, Herz was a widow who left Germany with her daughter Helga on March 13th 1933, saying that she anticipated the arrival of Hitlerism long before it started. Alice and Helga Herz went first to Switzerland and 4 months later to Grenoble in France what the Nazis invaded in 1940. After spending time in the concentration camp of Gurs near the Spanish border, Alice and Helga eventually came to the United States in August 1942. They settled in Detroit, where Helga became a librarian at the Detroit Public Library and Alice became an adjunct instructor of German at Wayne State University. Here she studied German History before Hitler and the ideological and political reasons of the first Worldwar. The pair petitioned for, but were denied, U.S. citizenship due to their refusal to vow to defend the nation by arms.

Herz wrote a last testament, which she distributed to several friends and fellow-activists before her death. The testament specifically refers to her decision to follow the protest methods of the South Vietnamese monks and nuns, whose acts of self-immolation had received worldwide attention. Confiding to a friend before her death, Herz remarked that she had used all of the accepted protest methods available to peace and justice activists--including marching, protesting, and writing countless articles and letters--and she wondered what else she could do. Evidently, Herz decided to make self-immolation her final act of protest. Japanese author and philosopher, Shingo Shibata, established the Alice Herz Peace Fund shortly after her death.

Please, please, please
In her preparation to die with dignity and purpose, Alice wrote more than a Testament. She drafted a LETTER to the Youth of America. Although Alice published many journal articles, and some of her correspondence with prominent U.S. pacifists survives, these final words from her pen are priceless. Years ago I published them upon a website of my creation, but I have lost the html file. If anyone knows where this letter remains in print, please add it to this entry for dear Alice. -- Ed Chilton — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.35.125.197 (talk) 14:15, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

An Unknown Memorial
The California artist, David Settino Scott, was so moved by the story of Alice Herz that he created a bust of her, as part of a series based upon the construct of self-immolation to inspire creation of a better world. He made a similar bust of Norman Morrison, Q.V. --Ed Chilton — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.35.125.197 (talk) 14:34, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

Confusing
The article is a little confusing... Did she attempt to burn herself, and then die 10 days later of the effects; or did she attempt to suicide some other way but failed? How did she die 10 days after? Did someone or something stop her from finishing?

I have read in Wikepedia that a total of 8 Americans committed suicide by burning themselves in protest of the Vietnam war. There is Alice Herz, Norman Morrison, George Winne Jr., Florence Beaumont, and Roger Allen LaPorte. Who are the other three?

14 Nov 2010 - - ANSWER: Hiroko Hayaski: October 12, 1967, San Diego, CA, age 36 - - Erik Thoen: December 4, 1967, Sunnyvale, CA, age 27 - - Ronald W. Brazee: April 27, 1968, Auburn, NY, age 16.

Alice Herz, age 82, did not know how much flammable liquid would be needed. She walked to her death location alone at night carrying only a quart of fluid. She poured this upon her clothing and set that ablaze, but it was only enough to cause widespread 3rd degree burns. She was rushed to hospital by ambulance. --Ed Chilton

8 total in Wikipedia
There are 8 Americans total listed in Wikipedia in the category of self-immolations. The other 3 to the ones you listed are Malachi Ritscher, Kathy Change, and Elizabeth Shin. Ritscher was in regards to the Iraq War, but the other two don't seem to be related to specific wars. Change's was against "social stagnation" and Shin's was because she was depressed. I reworded the article so it just says Herz was the first and doesn't say how many there have been total. TecmoBo (talk) 01:31, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

A question of occupation
She had been mis-represented as a librarian in a 2004 Loren Coleman book The Copycat Effect previously cited. However, her daughter was the librarian. This is clear in the text of her Life section and all other documents about her, including her own letters and her daughter's notes as published in Herz, Alice and Shingo Shibata. Phoenix: Letters and Documents of Alice Herz : The Thought and Practice of a Modern-Day Martyr. Vol. 11;11.;. Amsterdam: Grüner, 1976. p.33-34, 36, 163. Other biographies note that she adjuncted at Wayne State University, teaching German, e.g. https://womenstrikeforpeace.com/wspers/alice-herz/. When removing the incorrect occupation, I did not feel entirely comfortable stating that the other was her occupation as we don't have information about the frequency of her classes or whether she considered it an occupation. However, I wouldn't be uncomfortable if someone else decided adding occupation as "Adjunct Lecturer" was a reasonable choice. Ruthbrarian (talk) 14:34, 29 June 2018 (UTC)

Date of death contradiction
The article claims Hertz died on May 16th, but it also claims that she set herself on fire on May 16th, but died 10 days later - i.e. that she died on May 26th. Clearly both can't be true. Guinness2702 (talk) 15:42, 5 October 2018 (UTC)