I Have Lived A Thousand Years: Growing Up In The Holocaust (1999) - Plot & Excerpts
What sets Bitton-Jackson's Holocaust memoir apart from the others is that it is simultaneously poetic and graphic. Also, the entire book is written in the first-person which gives it a startling immediacy.It has garnered hundreds of deservedly glowing reviews, both here and on Amazon, so I won't take the trouble of summarizing it but the following sections hit me upside the head:Her short-lived joyful ethnic pride that she discovered in the Jewish ghetto: "For the first time in my life, I am happy to be a Jew . . . The cock-feathered policement who had trampled on our sofas and our self-esteem, the Gentile neighbors who were afraid to say good-bye, the Jancsi Novaks, the kind, gentle friends who have not attempted to send a note of synpathy, the peasant wagon drivers who dutifully accepted wages from us for delivering us to the enemy . . . they all are on the other side of the fence. A tall fence separates us. A world separates us because they do not understand."But we, on this side of the fence, we understand. We put up sheets around bathtubs in the yard in order to take baths. We cook on open stoves, We stand in long lines for the toilet. No friendship or love binds as this deep, spontaneous, easy mutuality." The graphic description of concentration camp food, clearer than any I've read elsewhere:"I snatch the bread from Mommy's hand (she had refused to eat it) and begin to eat. The dry, mudlike lump turns into wet sand particles in my mouth. . . "When the bowl of food is handed to me, I am unable to take a gulp. It is a dark green, thick mass in a battered washbowl crusted with dirt. No spoons. You tilt the bowl until the mass slides to the edge, then gulp. The dark mush smells and looks repulsive. The edge of the bowl is rusty and cracked and uneven with dried-on smut. My nausea returns in a flash."And to add fodder to the eternal question of how much did war-time Germans outside the SS really know about the concentration camps, there is an interesting chapter titled "This Must be Heaven" in which some clearly astonished Wehrmacht officials running a Luftwaffe factory who have requested female laborers from Auschwitz don't recognize the arriving inmates as women, ask them where their luggage is (which causes much laughter among the inmates), and ask for their actual names. When one officer tells Bitton-Jackson's partially paralyzed mother not to worry, that "here you will get better. We will take good care of you" the daughter's response is "I am surely dreaming."A stunning Holocaust memoir, simultaneously poetic and graphic.
We decided to add this to our Holocaust novels unit this year (along with Night and The Cage), so I sat down yesterday afternoon and ended up reading the entire book in one sitting. I reminds me a LOT of The Cage, actually. Both girls were poets and wanted to become writers; both lived in a ghetto before transferring to a concentration camp. I think they both moved around quite a bit, although Bitton-Jackson did much more back and forth traveling between camps. I always feel weird saying I "enjoyed" a book like this, and as I've mentioned before, unfortunately stories of this sort start to blend together for me after a while (I have a student this year who is just obsessed with Holocaust stories -- she loves them all and finds them all equally fascinating. I am hoping her enthusiasm rubs off on me!). The language is simple and stark. I'm not sure how old Bitton-Jackson was when she actually wrote this memoir (she was 13-14 when the events actually took place), but I think she captures her young voice quite well. There's not a lot of prose or poetic waxing here, it's all very simply laid out (the dialogue especially). And again, I think it captures the voice of a typical young teenager in a horrific situation. The Cage gets a little more flowery in its prose, and while Night is certainly a stark and affecting story, the language is more complex and the struggling readers have trouble with it. This is a good middle ground between the two, I think. Also, all of the moving around gave me a spectacular idea for the final project: a Lit Trip map! I'm pretty sure one already exists for Night (but that doesn't mean the kids can't create their own), and I think it could work for The Cage as well. I'm also experimenting with book blogs during this unit...excited to see how this all pans out!
What do You think about I Have Lived A Thousand Years: Growing Up In The Holocaust (1999)?
Going to be honest, when I read this, I was so burnt out on Nazi Germany/Holocaust stories I had a hard time enjoying/reading any of this. But this isn't to say it isn't a good book. Though I'm still "hungover" from Holocaust stories, I'll be as objective as I can.The story of Elli and the struggles of her family were very real and very moving. I personally prefer this account of the Jews' struggle than most of the ones I read. Elli's struggled became my struggle and I felt for her on a deeper level than many other accounts. I loved the everyday accounts, things that became common to them, the description of what they ate in the camps. Their, or rather, Elli's thought process and how desperate everyone was. I will state one or two things that I found a bit frustrating. One, the fact that things were so slow at times (though, as this is a true account, I can't expect action every entry. I have mixed feelings about this one), and two, all the Jewish words that I really had to dig the meaning for (footnotes would have been nice). Other than that . . . it was chilling and I would definitely recommend anyone and everyone to read this to truly understand the horror of Nazi Germany.
—Jesse Painter
The first time I visited a synagogue, it was with a group of students and Ms Livia Bitton-Jackson was our teacher in Lehman College , the Bronx, New York, 1998. Ms Bitton-Jackson told us the story of that pretty picture of her on the cover of the book. It was a miracle. She no longer had any possessions after having lived for a long period in concentration camp. A time when she often shared raw potatoes secretly with the other prisoners. Years after the war, she visited Poland and found a place where photos that had been lost by victims of the holocaust, had been preserved. Looking through the pictures, accidentally she found a picture of her as a teen ager. That is the picture used in this book cover. I have to also share that Livia was at the time I studied with her, the woman with the most astonishing beauty. As a matter of fact I don't recall having seen a woman as beautiful as her before or after having met her. Her smile together with her eyes, beamed rays of joy, love and womanhood...an amazing human being.....
—Victor
I Have Lived A Thousand Years is a historical fiction novel about a young girl named Ellike. She is a Jew, and that basically guaranteed that her life is about to get ruined now that Hitler’s in power. Throughout the book, she describes her appearance, so you know that she goes from a healthy, fair-skinned, blue eyed girl with beautiful blonde braids to a walking skeleton with a hopeless gaze and a shaven head.tThe theme of this book is to show that even in the darkest hour, there is still hope. Noteworthy is the manner in which the author portrays the scenarios. I would not normally choose this genre, as I do not think fondly of genocide. I would not change anything about this book. Although gory and disturbing in some chapters, it is very well written and I am able to appreciate that.In conclusion, it was intriguing, but not enjoyable or useful. It’s not really a “cuddle up and read on a rainy day” type of book. I’d recommend it, if you enjoy Holocaust stories. It doesn't spare much detail.
—Kassidy Timm
