How old do you think I am?

Shortly after Billy wakes up at the prison in Germany after his peculiar experience at the latrines, he finds another person being carried into the hospital. This character is Paul Lazzaro, a tiny man that has been knocked down by an Englishman for trying to steal cigarettes. The Englishmen that threw the punch that left this tiny man unconscious is also in the room, and after a short dialogue with the colonel/doctor, he describes the new American prisoners as “Weak, smelly, self-pitying – a pack of sniveling, dirty, thieving bastards.” (pg. 127).

I find it amazing how, in the midst of a horrible war, some people could still be so clueless as to what was actually happening at the battle front. At first, my impression of the Englishmen was a very good one, due to the big “feast” they prepared for the new prisoners, but throughout the chapter, my image of them became worse and worse. The quote above reminded me of a part of the book I Have Lived a Thousand Years. It is about a thirteen year old girl named Elli that was taken during World War II and was forced to live in several ghettos and concentration camps, ultimately ending up in Auschwitz.

A few days before the German defeat, all the Jews were loaded onto trains and forced to go days without food or water. The Germans wanted to starve and kill all of them before the Allies had the chance of rescuing them. Their plan failed, however, and Elli, now sixteen, is liberated. After getting off the dreaded train, one of the rescuers walks towards her and says that this experience must have been especially hard for her due to her age. Taken aback, Elli asks how old she appears to be. The rescuer answers that she looks around 60 years old.

This was something that really impacted me, because although I knew the suffering and hardships these people had to go through, I never imagined just how big an impact it had on their physical aspects. I feel somewhat identified with Elli, because we are nearly the same age and we are both Jewish girls. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be finally free from the horrible Nazis and then be taken for an elder person. What if I had lived during that time? Would I be like this girl? Would I be mistaken for a senior citizen as well?