I Have Lived A Thousand Years Chapter Summaries

Book review

I Have Lived a Thousand Years is a historical book written by Livia Bitton Jackson. It‘s about Elli Friedmann a little girl of thirteen year old. She and her family were Jews. They were taken away from their house and put into a crowed ghetto in Hungary with another Jews when the Nazis invade Hungary in March 1944. Eli can no longer attend school. She became one of many innocent Holocaust victims. Elli has returned 50 years later for a ceremony to the spot where she was once liberated by the American army. Living during the Holocaust she has chosen to write down her story. The book covers 40 chapters that explain her story as a survivor. I will talk about some of marked events

I chose to read I have lived a thousand years

between many books for my final book assessment because I thought this book will be easy for my book review. But I frankly have to state it was not enjoyable at all, this book is emotionally heavy. The cruelty of holocaust in the book is repulsive. I read it by curiosity to know how a little girl will survive. Before her liberation she went through many strategies and develops the tactic of survivals. Her daydream to become a poet changed to the hardship, and hard life
In fact the story started in the town of Somorja in March 1943 where Elli has a normal life with her parents and friends before the invasion of Nazi SS.

The only complaint was about love of her mother. Elli believes her mother does not care for her and that her brother Bubi is the favorite. Soon Jews are targeted. Budi arrived home and the terror begun because Germany invaded Budapest the town he went to school. Forced to wear a bright yellow star on their clothing, Elli refused simply to go out at the first time. She faced embarrassment and shame. But her brother, Budi accepted to wear the star like a badge of honor. In the reality this star is the emblem of humiliation and sign of what Elli and other Jews will be facing in the days to come. Bubi didn’t view the star as humiliation. He took it easy as ridicule pride against

Hitler
In next to no time Elli, her family, and all Jews of their town are forced to liquidate all their valuable possessions. Elli has just got a new bike and didn’t want to give it up. Ignoring the decree Elli’s father decided to buries some jewels, making sure that Elli and the rest of the family know their location. He told her that he didn’t know who will survive so she better remember the spot. All Jews were moved to the ghetto at seventeen kilometers away. The ghetto is crowded with no privacy. The able- bodied men from eighteen to forty- five were sent to a labor camp. The rest were forced to walk a great distance and were shipped by train to Auschwitz. Elli was separated from her daddy in May 14 1944. She felled sleep and regret that she didn’t get chance to kiss and tell her daddy how much she love him before he left.
In May 17, 1944 all papers were burned even the Torah which is the Jews’ bible. They destroyed everything. But Elli took the risk to steal her poem notebook. She was able to save her poems from the mass burning. Later on Elli lie about her age in order to survive in the work camps.
Life in Auschwitz is made with abuses, little food, and foul water. This really happened to Elli, her mother Laura, and all Jews. A little girl learnt very quick how to survive and to adapt to the circumstance. She was forced to stay in cold and live in horrible conditions. In Auschwitz,
mostly in May 31, 1944 they were ordered to remove their clothes in crowded hall where all their hair is shaved. Elli saw at the first time her mother naked, what the shame! Elli was lucky to have her family stick together. With the help of her family she learnt how to survive even with lack of nutrition. Elli has a tattoo number on her left arm, A-17360 on August 8, 1944. It’s physical painful and emotional harmful. The same day her mother was totally paralyzed because she received the broken bed from above that content many women. Even the Doctor told to Elli her mother spine column is broken. Miraculously she has recovered. Elli encouraged her every day. Elli was not allowed to visit her. But she took the risk to do it until she got caught one day and got punished by SS who ordered her to kneel without food, drinking for 24 hours.
The big part I like on Elli is her courage when she jumped at the tall husky woman against the wall when this SS is going to break the weak recovered arm of her mother. After her attacking an SS female guard, Elli was beaten nearly to death. When she waked up and found herself as survived she has a sense of triumph overwhelms the anguish. She felt like a winner.

Elli and her mother left the camp of Auschwitz in June 10 1944 for Plaszow, the most notorious forced-labor camp in Poland. Over there their new leaders treat them with rudeness with no rest, no food. Elli saw her mother on the way to eat soup with a worm. So she dumped her soup and sobs to God. In July 1944 Elli and her mother were at risk to be killed because they are committed a sabotage of downpour. But luckily for them the episode of uprising saved their lives and they escaped the decimation. This night they spent it in prayer and in terror of death to avoid decimation but her live was saved.
Elli’s mother was selected to work in the factory in Germany. In order to boost production, the plant had requested five hundred female prison workers from a concentration camp. Elli was not selected because she bad bruises. But due to her sneaky ability they left together Auschwitz.
Life restarted in Augsburg.

Their new place Augsburg looked like heaven because the place to sleep was roomy enough, they have real amount of food, soap and towels in the shower room. Elli met the criteria to be selected in the highest group of montage and her mommy is allowed to join her in the montage quarter which is better than crowded, and dark room. Factory wass little stricter but life was better than the old concentration. They can dress with the suitable clothes even if it was for the dead Jews people. Elli has big heart. Her sufferance was not done but she prayed for those death people and asked their

forgiveness.
Elli dreamed for over a year ago that her father died and was happened later in the camp where he was forced to work. Now she is going to move again with her mother in another camp called by Muhldorf. Elli and her mother were selected to transfer to waldlager. Over there they encountered Bubi but they had hard time to recognize. Elli was happy to know her brother was in life and was wondering if her daddy is in life too. In waldlager Laura was assigned to work in kitchen commando and was happy to be with Elli and Bubi. A few days later, unexpected changes occurred. The good news were sprayed that Americans were approaching, and Germans were surrendering the areas without a fight. Freedom has come. Elli started to think about the future. How she is going to travel all the camps to find her daddy. She is a girl who has love of her parents.
In April, 23 to 27, 1945 all camps of Dachau are evacuated. Many Jews were killed again after the good news on gunfire. Bubi was hit in the head. Freedom at last has come in April 30, 1945 after they spent a week without food; drinking. Bubi has all the information of people who died. He knows all their relatives were dead but he didn’t know about his daddy. Elli, Bubi and their mother arrived home finally. The Americans gave all the inmates bedding and clothes. There was no daddy at home. Bubi checked every old camp he heard he died two week ago before their liberation, the day Elli was sad when she remember about her old dream. Another bad new after they discovered their father is died is they didn’t have a home anymore. Elli realized that their old hometown is called now Samorin not Somorja. The summary of the war was only thirty-six of five hundred Jews are returning. The rest of Jews from their areas was died. Elli wished to go back to Palestine where she is originated. But she ready vowed never to be separated again. They dig up the Jewelry. Elli has her father’s brother in New-York who wrote to the family that he could help them if they accepted to immigrate in America that is why America becomes Elli’s home.
I think this is a real true story that the author wants many generations after holocaust to know. The author doesn’t want people to get history wrong she wants to translate what happen in the reality. Elli learns lessons above hope, prayer, love, determination, and with her family help.
The holocaust is not a legend as some may think. But a tangible events that impact the history of Jews and also the humanity. Even today people have the tattooed Id number proof of Hitler cruelty for his crazy desire of pure race of Aryans.
This is an extraordinary book to read. It brings some tears on my eyes when I was reading. But it is a good book that I recommend people to read. The starting is slow but after the two first chapters you are going to be touched emotionally in the highest intensity of human cruelty.