“I Have Lived a Thousand Years: Growing Up in the Holocaust,” by Livia Bitton-Jackson
Simon-Pulse, New York, 1997, 234 pages, Grades 8-12.
When times become extremely troubled, simplistic answers are frequently sought. One of the first reactions that happens is that some group is “scapegoated”: in ancient Israel, a goat was brought into camp and all the sins of the people were put upon the animal. After that, the goat was driven into the desert and a likely death.
In the 1930’s, Hitler blamed Germany’s problems on the Jews, Gypsies and other groups. This scapegoating gave targets of ridicule and hatred to a frightened country: now there was someone to blame for all their problems.
As the Nazis overran nearby countries, they imposed their hatreds on the newly-conquered nations. One country was Hungary and every Jewish person in the land was targeted for extinction. Livia Bitton-Jackson tells the grueling story of her survival during the Holocaust in her autobiography, “I Have Lived a Thousand Years: Growing Up in the Holocaust.”
Like many Jewish-Hungarian girls, Livia lives in a close family of prosperous merchants. The family practices the faith and live virtuous lives. In March, 1944, the Nazi Government decides that the Jewish population in Hungary needs to be annihilated. Livia quickly sees her life change from one of familial protection to one of brutal oppression. All the Jews in her hometown are expelled by the German government and eventually are deported to concentration camps.
Within a matter of weeks, Livia’s life changes from a 13-year-old going to school, to a terrified teenager facing “selection” at Auschwitz.
She is selected to live by the infamous Dr. Mengele because she has pretty blonde hair. He even gives her a tip on how to avoid being selected: Mengele tells Livia to say she is 16. Sixteen-year-olds are not sent to the gas chambers, so the evil doctor has given her a clue how to trick his own SS unit. However, her dark-haired aunt is sent to the gas chambers when Mengele rules her unfit for life.
Livia documents the terrible things that she witnesses at Auschwitz. She learns to avoid execution and most tortures by not antagonizing the guards or the SS officers. Her one overwhelming desire is to survive the death camps. For the next year Livia and her mother and brother are sent to a number of concentration camps. But she doesn’t know what has happened to her father and other family members.
How does Livia survive the hell in which she is placed? Why do some people survive and other people don’t? Why is this such a difficult problem for Livia? And finally, why does she wonder if those who died were the lucky ones? To find out the answers to these questions, go to the library and check out this gripping, painful account of Livia Bitton’s life in the concentration camps.
This is not a story for the faint of heart. However, it is a history that must be remembered and this autobiography was awarded the 1998 Christopher Medal that “affirms the highest values of the human spirit.”
On March 14, the House of Representatives voted 393-0 to condemn ISIS for “War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide.” Nebraska Representative Jeff Fortenberry introduced this measure (Resolution 75) and successfully shepherded it through Congress. The Chaldean Rite Catholics and the Yezidis in Iraq have been annihilated by ISIS for the last several years because of their refusal to convert to Islam. The Chaldean Catholics have existed since the Apostolic Age and still celebrate Mass in Aramaic (the language spoken by Jesus). In an age when too many “Catholic” politicians waffle on religious matters, Rep. Fortenberry is to be congratulated on his courageous stance for the faith. I hope you encourage the older children in your family to read this compelling autobiography.
