I Have Lived a Thousand Years: Growing Up in the Holocaust

The will to survive is an overriding theme in this story and can be seen in almost every situation and scene. One of the most notable is the willingness of both Laura and Elli to drink putrid water and to eat horrible food that seems to have sand and even bits of material in it. When Elli is given her first taste of the horrible food in Auschwitz, she retches, as does Laura. Their cousins urge them to try again and their reason for this urging is that there isn't anything else to eat and that they must retain something in their stomachs in order to survive.

Another example of this will to survive is the ability of the prisoners to work in all kinds of weather with very little food and to stand in the cold for hours for roll call. It's also noted that the women typically encourage each other to stay out of trouble and to do what's necessary, fearing not only for those who might be punished but also realizing the entire barracks of prisoners are often punished for the alleged misdeeds of a single person.