I Have Lived A Thousand Years

What is death all about? What is life all about?

So wonders thirteen-year-old Elli Friedmann, just one of the many innocent Holocaust victims, as she fights for her life in a concentration camp. It wasn't long ago that Elli led a normal life: a life rich and full that included family, friends, school, and thoughts about boys. A life in which Elli could lie and daydream for hours that she was a beautiful, elegant, celebrated poet.

But these adolescent daydreams quickly darkened in March 1944, when the Nazis invaded Hungary. At first, Elli could no longer attend school, own possessions, or talk to her neighbors. Then she and her family were forced to leave their house behind to move into a crowded ghetto, where privacy became a luxury of the past and food became a scarcity. Her strong will and faith allowed Elli to manage and adjust somehow, but what Elli didn't know was that this was only the beginning and the worst was yet to come.

A remarkable memoir. I Have Lived a Thousand Years is a story of cruelty and suffering, but at the same time a story of hope, faith, perseverance and love.