Jew are forbidden from appearing in public, their valuables are confiscated, and, ultimately, they are deported to ghettoes. Authorities require Jewish residents to wear a yellow star and paint this same star on their houses. The German occupation of 1944 intensifies the persecution of Jews. They’ve confiscated her father’s business and staged raids in Jewish households.
Since the Hungarian occupation of her region, authorities have subtly persecuted Jewish residents. Electricity and cars are rare, and most residents live by nature’s rhythms. Life in her small farming community revolves around the Danube River.
Her message to future generations is to fight intolerance and prejudice and never give up.īitton-Jackson’s story begins in 1943, when she is twelve years old, and nurtures dreams of becoming a celebrated poet. Fifty years later, Bitton-Jackson returns to Germany for a Holocaust remembrance ceremony. I Have Lived a Thousand Years received a Christopher Award, presented to writers, producers and directors that “affirm the highest values of the human spirit.” The book chronicles Bitton-Jackson’s experiences before and during the Holocaust, from the days leading up to the German occupation through her liberation by American troops.
