This book is very detailed with the horror this young girl suffered and the way Livia describes the things that happened to her at a young age is just chilling.How evil dictator of Germany wants to exterminate all of the Jews is just heart throbbing. A very beautifully detailed book , this is a total MUST READ ( )

This is a great accompaniment to any unit involving the Holocaust. It is dark and can be upsetting, but addresses an important topic.

I Have Lived a Thousand Years is Livia Bitton-Jackson's (born Elli Friedmann) memoir of growing up during the Holocaust. Her story begins as the Nazis invade Budapest. Shortly thereafter, Elli and her family are forced into a ghetto which then leads to their imprisonment and forced labor in a seemingly endless litany of concentration camps.

Aimed more at a young adult audience, I Have Lived a Thousand Years is written in a present-tense first person style that is reminiscent of a girl's diary. Though it may be aimed a younger audience, it doesn't gloss over the painful details of a childhood lived under the impossible cruelty of the Nazis, though it doesn't always give quite as many vivid details as others I've read. Somehow, though, it is not the most violent and tortuous situations that leave the biggest impression but the more understated moments, like the image of Elli running barefoot outside realizing she didn't get to say good-bye to her father, possibly for the last time, or the sound of the old men in the ghetto constantly chanting the Psalms in the days after the younger men are taken away.

The conundrum of reviewing the Holocaust memoir is that you can't. I can't very well sit and say "I enjoyed this or that," but Bitton-Jackson's memories are vivid and well-told. After the first few chapters, the writing flows easily and for a story of such painful events, it is surprisingly difficult to put down. Even though I've read my fair share of Holocaust memoirs, I was staggered by many of Elli's experiences not least the sheer amount of places she and her mother are taken by train to do forced labor over a relatively short period of time. The only minor quibble I could make with the writing is that the most dramatic language seems to arrive well before the most dramatic events. The narrative, well before the family is experiencing ghettos and concentration camps, is peppered with "Oh my Gods" and "Will I ever...?" that seem to indicate extensive foreknowledge which seems a bit overblown in a book that is written from a present tense perspective and an unnecessary effort to create drama. Soon, though, the events change to suit the language. While the writing continues in the same way, the drama and tragedy are totally real and well-suited to the language, and there is no longer a need for it to be manufactured by portentous language. ( )

It is hard to find the right words to describe this book. Not because it wasn't a good book but because its a powerful one. About a place and time in history that can only be described as horrific. Much of this story takes place in Auschwitz. A place where countess thousands of Jews, Gypsies, Gays, Political Prisoners, and all other "undesirables" were kept, tortured and killed? How do you describe such a place? I've been there. Seen it first hand and yet I still have time finding words to describe it. Bitton-Jackson on the other hand does have the words. She was there too. She was one of those deemed unworthy by Hitler because she was Jewish. At 14 she was sent to Auschwitz with her family. She was "fortunate" though in that she had blond hair and blue eyes. She was singled out by Mengle and told to say she was 16. I say fortunate because at 14 she was considered to be a child - too young and too weak to work - she should have been sent to the gas chamber. If it wasn't for that small twist of fate her story never would have been written. But written it was and its a story that is well worth the read. For anyone who has ever read [The Diary of Anne Frank] they should also read [I Have Lived a Thousand Years]. For this story is where Frank's left off. This is life in the camps. This is what Anne lived after she and her family were discovered in the attic. Only Anne never got to tell this side of her story. So Bitton-Jackson did it for her. By telling her story she tells the story of all those who lived through those dark days. She is brave and courageous and she did something which I don't think that I would have been able to do. She survived.

For a full review and a look at Auschwitz go here:
http://tickettoanywhere.blogspot.com/... ( )

Heartwrenching account of a 13-year-old during the Holocaust. The author did an excellent job of explaining the confusion she and everyone else felt nearly daily about what was happening and what was expected of her/them. I look forward to reading the book about her years in the U. S. after the war. ( )