what is death all aboutwhat is life all aboutso wonders thirteenyearold elli friedmann just one of the many innocent holocaust victims as she fights for her life in a concentration camp it wasnt 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 and elegant celebrated poetbut these adolescent daydreams quickly darken in march 1944 when the nazis invade hungary first elli can no longer attend school have possessions or talk to her neighbors then she and her family are forced to leave their house behind to move into a crowded ghetto where privacy becomes a luxury of the past and food becomes a scarcity her strong will and faith allow elli to manage and adjust somehow but what elli doesnt know is that this is only the beginning and the worst is yet to comea 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