Livia Bitton-Jackson
Livia Bitton-Jackson | |
---|---|
Born | Elli L. Friedmann February 28, 1931 Samorin, Czechoslovakia |
Died | May 17, 2023 | (aged 92)
Alma mater | New York University |
Occupation | Professor of history |
Employer | City University of New York |
Known for | Holocaust survivor |
Notable work | I Have Lived a Thousand Years |
Awards | Christopher Award |
Livia Bitton-Jackson (February 28, 1931 – May 17, 2023) was an author and a
Early life
Elli was born in Samorin, on February 28, 1931, the second child to Laura and Markus Friedmann, but in 1938, Hungarian troops occupied Samorin, renaming it Somorja. In Somorja, the segregation of Jews began rapidly when the
Germany
In August 1944, Bitton-Jackson and her mother were taken from Auschwitz to a factory in the German city of
After the liberation, Bitton-Jackson, her mother and brother stayed in Seeshaupt where she helped to nurse her brother and fellow inmates back to health.
New York
After the war, she and her brother and mother returned to Šamorín, believing that her father would be waiting for them, only to discover that he was dead. Her brother then moved to New York on a visa from a school scholarship. Bitton-Jackson had the opportunity to go with her brother but chose to stay in Czechoslovakia with her mother. The two stayed in Šamorín until 1951, when they finally got visas to go to America.[4]
They traveled to America on a refugee boat, and Bitton-Jackson continued her education. She eventually enrolled in New York University, and got a degree there. Bitton-Jackson had a Ph.D. in Hebrew Culture and Jewish History obtained at New York University. She had been a professor of history at City University of New York for 37 years, and had won numerous awards, including the 1998 Christopher Award for her book, I Have Lived a Thousand Years.[5]
Israel
In 1977, Bitton-Jackson moved to Israel, where she has been living ever since. She continued teaching at CUNY for years thereafter, and made periodic trips to the U.S. for speaking engagements. In April 2009, Bitton-Jackson was invited to speak in Omaha, Nebraska, for Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Durham Museum, with videolinks to Pleasanton and at Millard West High School. She also spoke to members of the Strategic Air Command at Offutt AFB.[6]
Publications
- Elli: Coming of Age in the Holocaust (1980)
- I Have Lived a Thousand Years: Growing Up in the Holocaust (1997)
- My Bridges of Hope: Six Long Years to Freedom After Auschwitz (1999)
- Hello, America: A Refugee's Journey from Auschwitz to the New World (2005)
- Saving What Remains: A Holocaust Survivor's Journey Home to Reclaim Her Ancestry (2009)
References
- ^ Zeiger, Hanna B. (July 1997). "I Have Lived a Thousand Years: Growing Up in the Holocaust". Horn Book Magazine. 73 (4): 472–473.
- ^ "Livia Bitton-Jackson - Author profile and Information". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
- ISBN 0-689-82395-9.
- ISBN 1-4169-1625-3
- ^ "Christopher Awards 1990 - 1999". Archived from the original on August 9, 2011. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
- ^ "I've Lived a Thousand Years – A Holocaust Survivor's Story" (PDF). durhammuseum.org. Retrieved 2013-10-04.