I Have Lived a Thousand Years

Bitton-Jackson credits their SS man—who they call the “Goat” because of his pointed chin and bobbing gait—with saving her life during Yom Kippur. She observed the fast and, due to their meals’ timing, missed three in a row, becoming so weak she collapsed at her machine. When she came to, she saw the Goat looking at her “with worried blue eyes” (145). She later learned he carried her to the factory’s medical office and escorted her back to work without reporting her medical incident.

As Allied bombings increase in intensity, the women sense the war’s end is near. Their SS man is nervous. He selects forty girls, including Bitton-Jackson, to clean debris in the yard from a bombing. The women run to get their coats, but he orders them to march outdoors immediately, despite the frigid temperatures. Bitton-Jackson and several others duck into the toilets and hide behind trashcans. The Goat realizes several girls are missing and orders a search. They come out when they hear everyone’s rations will be withheld. The Oberscharfürer orders the offenders to stand against the wall until midnight. It is the fifth day of Passover, and Bitton-Jackson has been observing it by foregoing her bread ration.