MY BRIDGE OF HOPE: SEARCING FOR LIFE AND LOVE AFTER AUSCHWITZ

Author (last name first): Bitton-Jackson, Livia

Publisher, Date of Publication: Simon & Schuster/1999

Pages: 258pgs

Grade Level/ or Age Level: 8-12

Classification: NonFiction


MY BRIDGES OF HOPE is a sequel to I HAVE LIVED A THOUSAND YEARS, Bitton- Jackson's story of her imprisonment in Auschwitz. A World War II concentration camp. She was 14 when she was liberated in 1945, and she and her mother and brother returned to Czechoslovakia, thinking they would be reunited with their father in their home. What they found was a bare house, a town full of strangers, and the news that they would not see their father again. Deciding to immigrate to America, it takes six long years of living in temporary shelters, facing ever-present dangers, anti-Semitism and adventures before finally arriving in America. Along the way she builds"bridges of hope" for others as well-rescuing Jewish orphans, Jewish refugees, and even teaching in a Jewish school. This is a powerful, first-hand look at post-war Europe through the eyes of a Jewish survivor.

Reviewer: Judy Berry