The Story of a Life

An astonishing memoir of the Holocaust through the eyes of a child, and an exquisite meditation on memory and trauma.

The Story of a Life by Aharon Appelfeld chronicles his experiences as the beloved only child of middle-class Jewish parents living in what is now Ukraine at the outbreak of World War Two. Their peaceful life is upended when soldiers invade their town, and his mother is shot dead in her own garden. The then-seven-year-old Aharon does not witness her murder, but he does hear her scream.

Aharon and his father are sent to a concentration camp and separated. Memory and trauma combine to create a patchwork of reminiscences. Aharon is ten years old when he escapes the camp into the forests of Ukraine and is overwhelmed by the sight of an apple tree laden with fruit.

Living off the land for two years before making the long journey south to Italy and eventually Israel and freedom, Appelfeld finally found a home where he could carve out a life for himself, eventually becoming one of Israel's most acclaimed writers. This is the extraordinary and painful memoir of his childhood and youth, and a compelling account of a boy coming of age in a hostile world.