But I Live: Three Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust

by Miriam Libicki (Artist), Gilad Seliktar (Artist), Charlotte Schallie (Editor)

An intimate co-creation of three graphic novelists and four Holocaust survivors, But I Live consists of three illustrated stories based on the experiences of each survivor during and after the Holocaust.

David Schaffer and his family survived in Romania due to their refusal to obey Nazi collaborators. In the Netherlands, brothers Nico and Rolf Kamp were separated from their parents and hidden by the Dutch resistance in thirteen different places. Through the story of Emmie Arbel, a child survivor of the Ravensbrück and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps, we see the lifelong trauma inflicted by the Holocaust.

To complement these hauntingly beautiful and unforgettable visual stories, But I Live includes historical essays, an illustrated postscript from the artists, and personal words from each of the survivors.

As we urgently approach the post-witness era without living survivors of the Holocaust, these illustrated stories act as a physical embodiment of memory and help to create a new archive for future readers. By turning these testimonies into graphic novels, But I Live aims to teach new generations about racism, antisemitism, human rights, and social justice.

Genres: Graphic Novels, History, Holocaust, Nonfiction, Comics, Memoir, War

200 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2022

About the author

Miriam Libicki was born in Columbus, Ohio. After living in Jerusalem and Seattle, Washington, she is now based in Vancouver, BC. She completed her Bachelor's of Fine Arts from Emily Carr Institute in 2006. She is the creator of the comic series, Jobnik!, and the drawn essays Towards a Hot Jew, ceasefire, fierce ease and Jewish Memoir Goes Pow! Zap! Oy! (published in The Jewish Graphic Novel: Critical Approaches, from Rutgers University Press, December 2008).

Reviews

[aqilahreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

a brilliant graphic novel about the stories from holocaust survivors based on their experiences and what they could remember from those times.

the watercolour illustrations make the whole reading experience a more heartfelt read. its such an important book to look back into history and think about how far they have come to get to where they are today. even though i have only read a portion of the book, i can feel that its going to be an amazing one.

thank you netgalley for an eARC which only consists 1/3 of the story - will look forward to find it on the shelves to read.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Irgendwie ist das ein Buch, dass ich trotz 4 Sternen nicht mit "toll" oder nicht mal mit "gut" beschreiben will. Die Worte erscheinen mir unpassend bei dem Thema. Vielleicht passt "wichtig" besser oder sogar "lehrreich"?
...
Nichts davon fühlt sich so ganz richtig an. Aber wie soll man ein Buch mit Graphik Novels über das Überleben von Kindern während des Holocausts auch richtig in Worte fassen?
Würde ich es weiterempfehlen?
Ja, zumindest wenn man sich diesem ernsten und wichtigen Thema gerade gewachsen fühlt.
Vielleicht nicht unbedingt, wenn es einem selbst vielleicht gerade nicht gut geht und man das Lesen lieber nutzt um dem Wahnsinn der realen Welt zu entfliehen.

Mich hat neugierig gemacht, wie so ein Thema in Graphik Novels umgesetzt wird. Vom Zeichenstil her muss ich sagen, dass mir nur eine der drei Erzählungen wirklich zugesagt hat, aber wichtiger fand ich eigentlich sogar die kurzen Essays über die Überlebenden, die quasi das Nachwort zu den Graphik Novels bildeten.

Ich fand es auf jeden Fall einen interessanten Ansatz, dieses Thema so vielleicht auch Menschen nahe zu bringen, die vielleicht von einer graphischen Aufbereitung eher abgeholt werden als z.B. von einem Buch.

[Ankita Goswami · Rating 4 out of 5]

The (Netgalley) ARC had only one of the three stories from the book (the titular 'But I Live') and it was a wonderfully illustrated and moving story. I liked the oil painting-esque illustration style a lot. Since the story is a recollection of events from a child's perspective, it is understandably not very elaborate. I think I could have done with translations of some non-English words used though.

[Pancha Mantilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is a really interesting tale about survival and how horrors are seen from the eyes of child. The women collecting the story as a character is an add. It help to see how it is difficult to speak about trauma, that it takes time to gain trust. The taken into PTSD is interesting and includes glimpses of how the family must also deal with the proper way to not trigger things by mistake. A really interesting book from a psychological perspective,
Also the art is beautiful.
Thanks NetGalley

[Julie J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

ENGLISH VERSION BELOW

----------------------------

"Aber ich lebe" von Miriam Libicki, Barbara Yelin und Gilad Seliktar ist eine Graphic Novel, die die Geschichten von vier Kindern erzählt, die den Holocaust überlebt haben: Emmi Arbel, David Schaffer sowie die Brüder Rolf und Nico Kamp. Diese individuellen Schicksale werden in Form von drei separaten Graphic Novels dargestellt, die jeweils von einer:m der drei Künstler:innen umgesetzt wurde.

Emmi Arbel überlebte die Konzentrationslager Ravensbrück und Bergen-Belsen, während David Schaffer dem Genozid in Transnistrien entkam, indem er sich versteckte. Rolf und Nico Kamp wurden von Mitgliedern des niederländischen Widerstands an verschiedenen Orten versteckt, um der Verfolgung zu entgehen.

Vier Schicksale, vier unterschiedliche Geschichten, viermal Zeugnis der Grausamkeiten des Nationalsozialismus.

Die Stile sind sehr unterschiedlich, haben mich mal mehr mal weniger angesprochen.
Am Ende gibt es noch diverse Zusatzinfos zum Projekt, den Künstler:innen sowie den vier Erzähler:innen.

----------------------------
----------------------------

This book by Miriam Libicki, Barbara Yelin and Gilad Seliktar is a graphic novel that tells the stories of four children who survived the Holocaust: Emmi Arbel, David Schaffer and the brothers Rolf and Nico Kamp. These individual fates are presented in the form of three separate graphic novels, each created by one of the three artists.

Emmi Arbel survived the Ravensbrück and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps, while David Schaffer escaped the genocide in Transnistria by going into hiding. Rolf and Nico Kamp were hidden in various places by members of the Dutch resistance in order to escape persecution.

Four fates, four different stories, four testimonies to the atrocities of National Socialism.

The stylistic choices are very different, sometimes more, sometimes less appealing to me. At the end there is some additional information about the project, the artists and the four narrators.

[Martina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful and moving book! Three artists - Barbara Yelin, Miriam Libicki and Gilad Seliktar - spoke to four Holocaust survivors. They were children when the terror started. Four different survivals, four different paths to cope with survival. The three artists started this project to save the voices, the memories of four people. The horror should not get lost. Other children, other young people should read and see what they experienced, what had happened to them und how all these memories determined their whole lives. The artists wanted to give the memories a form, each one in their specific way of graphic art. And it is grown into an impressive, fantastic book.
I personally liked Barbara Yelin‘s part best. Her specific style of drawing led me deep into the memories of Emmie Arbel. It partly felt as if I could hear her voice.
But since I read Yelin‘s „Irmina“ I am a devoted fan of her art.
I read this book in the German translation by Rita Seuss which is regrettably not listed on Goodreads. The original didn’t even mention Barbara Yelin as co-author, just her fellow artists Miriam Libicki and Gilad Seliktar whose parts are equally impressive.
The books contains annotations and a graphic video call of the three artists in which they explain what made them make book.

[Keen Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars!

“When people discuss the Holocaust, I have a problem with the word “resistance”. The sad truth is that whoever stood up and openly or actively resisted was killed immediately.”

Personally I’m rarely a fan of pastel work or water colours, I tend to find them weak, dark and unconvincing and yet they work exceptionally well in here in these short, powerful accounts of hardship and survival.

“People were dying. People were starving. And that was the life, that was the only thing I knew. We knew that every day, we can die. You live with it. As a child, you learn to look at it and to live with it.”

The Histories section consists of a series of short essays, which gives us a deeper understanding into the background and wider context of each story and its place within the wider battlefield that was WWII in continental Europe.

In particular we gain a strong historical overview of the Romanian genocide, where the Antonescu regime and the Iron Guard slaughtered tens of thousands of Roma and Jews in death marches, and other mass killings. The fate of most Romanian Jews fate was unique in that most of them perished of hunger, exhaustion and hypothermia. Romania was responsible for the second highest number of Jewish deaths in a single European country after Germany, between 280,000 – 380,000 Jews and 11,000 – 25,000 Roma were wiped out.

So this is book which really brings much clarity, eloquence and insight into another bleak corner of the holocaust. Each of these dark stories has their own unique perspective and prove to be intense, compelling and harrowing in their own ways and overall this is a really powerful and poignant collection.

[Shoshanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I checked this out because I was interested in reading Miriam Libicki's contribution to this anthology. Her comic was so well put together, so thoughtful, so emotionally communicative, as I have come to expect of her work. She really brought a survivor's story to life.

[MissSophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Faszinierend, wie jede*r der drei Künstler:innen den eigenen Weg gefunden hat, diese bewegenden und heute schwer nachzuvollziehenden Schicksale der vier Holocaust-Überlebenden darzustellen. Ein wirklich wichtiges Projekt, dessen eindrückliche Umsetzung zeigt, dass Geschichtsvermittlung auch anders sein kann.

[Estibaliz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great educational value in this volume, that presents us with three beautifully drawn stories of children Holocaust survival, as moving as relevant and important, now that living survivors are scarce.

The book also provides us with some words from each of the protagonists, as well as several essays in the historical background for the different stories. These were actually a bit dense and maybe not totally necessary, which is the reason why my final rate goes down to 3.75 stars; and yes, this is entire personal, but I wasn't expecting to spend more time reading essays than enjoying the graphic novel part, given this is labeled as a graphic novel, and not as a non-fiction book.

Still, beautiful work. Never forget.

[Theediscerning]

A very good segment of testimony from a survivor of Bergen-Belsen and other camps in the War. Our narrator starts her biography by remembering very little, but when formative memories are of her mother fainting from cold and starvation at roll call and the urge to comfort her was stifled for fear of a bullet, the details come back in fine fashion. So it's a great shame that the rest of the book was not offered to us reviewers, and even requesting the full thing – as was suggested on netgalley – lead to silence from publishers who might not be giving this title the respect it deserves.

Review (of course) to be updated if they pull their finger out.

[ChrissyBby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diese Graphic Novel ist ein unglaublich spannendes Werk. Das Konzept, drei Künstler*innen drei Überlebensgeschichten verschiedener sog. "child survivors" der Shoah zu erzählen, geht voll auf. Die Idee, neue Formen des Geschichtenerzählens auszuprobieren, unter Anderem auch anhand der Tatsache, dass immer weniger Zeitzeug*innen am Leben sind, bietet den Leser*innen hier drei bildgewaltige Geschichten, welche nicht nur für Fans von Comics oder Graphic Novels Mehrwert bieten. Die zusätzlichen Essays bieten viele wichtige Einblicke und Informationen, um das Gelesene und Gesehene besser einzuordnen.

[Ila Humphreys]

I can’t really give a rating to this book due to the stories are based on their own childhood tragedies. I had to read this book for class and it is one of the best books I’ve read all year, a subject matter as heavy as this one was made very easy to read and understand. I’d recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the stories of Holocaust survivors.

[leanne hedley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you so much NetGalley for the ARC of this graphic novel!
The advanced copy of the novel that I was luckily enough to receive is one of the 3 stories.
Brilliant and heartbreaking story of a young person life during the holocaust. This graphic novel was such a beautiful quick read about Emmie Arbel fight for survival at such a young age and how she survived the tragic events that nearly lead her to losing her life to typhus. But then she managed to live on.

[Nina.K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both gentle and brutal. The storytelling feels honest. It's down-to-earth, and yet deeply profound.
I enjoyed the art style and the author's voice.
The story of the survivor is told with respect. We not only get to hear and see her terrific experience, but also get to view her personality and her life afterward. We get to see snippets of how the experience has affected her throughout her life for better and for worse, and how certain traumas are too deep to expunge.

[Beth Voecks · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moving and beautiful book that brings life out of the ashes of the Holocaust.

[BespectacledBookGirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC of the third memoir in this breathtakingly illustrated collection edited by Charlotte Schallié: “But I Live,” told by Barbara Yelin and Emmie Arbel. What gripped me about this story was Emmie’s palpable trauma, no less severe in her elderly years than during her Holocaust girlhood. Barbara’s illustrations are rendered in thick brush strokes, thick like Emmie’s pain, brain fog, thick like the viscous memories she trudges through in order to relay her memories of being tortured in Ravensbrück. Barbara deftly handles the conversational exchanges between Emmie and her interviewers by alternating color palettes. Alternating memory frames and present day frames hauntingly relays the experience of traumatic flashbacks. She sometimes leaves Emmie alone in the frame, the unoccupied space translating the sensation of dissociating after being lost in horrible thoughts. I have read other trauma memoirs and other Holocaust memoirs. While all important and powerful in their own ways, But I Live did something I have not personally encountered yet in this genre: the authors and editors are bold to leave in the narrator’s defeated admissions, “I don’t remember.” Those who would be so corrupt as to deny the very real existence and horrors of the Holocaust could easily point to this as “proof” that these stories aren’t real. Those of us who have experienced any sort of trauma (and who believe these survivors) know, however, that “I don’t remember” is the most honest, most devastating admission of one’s trauma. Not remembering is a biological act of self-preservation; the mind erases what it cannot compute. I learned this while undergoing EMDR for my own mind’s erasures. I am sure many, many readers, from all walks of life having survived all manner of traumas, and even those who haven’t, will feel the resonance of Emmie’s simple bravery to admit that she sometimes cannot remember. In one frame, the narrator, reaching for the emotional pressure release valve in the conversation, hopefully asks Emmie about Liberation and, astoundingly, is answered: “I don’t remember.” And that is the nature of trauma: it distills every good memory adjacent to the lived horror to an empty void that reaches around towards memories beyond those relentlessly playing on loop, unable to grasp an escape. But I Live, releasing this May 24 in a critical edition including historical essays as well, will surely emerge as a significant work of memory keeping and historical advocacy for survivors of the Holocaust and their families.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection will have three stories of children who survived the holocaust, but the edition suplies by the publisher only had one story. It was a haunting story just the same.

Because the survivors are dying off, their stories have to be told, and this one juxtaposed showing how she is in the modern world, with how it was at the concentration camp, where her mother died.

She tells the story with gaps, that the illustration fills in. Beautiful watercolors. Terrible things that happened, but beautiful watercolors. I expect the other two stories are just as haunting and beautiful.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Francesco Iorianni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mit dieser Graphic novel kommt eine weitere Ebene des Erinnerns dazu, nicht mehr nur in schriftlicher oder visueller Form, sondern jetzt auch als miteinander arbeitendes Komplex. Damit kann man eventuell auch jüngeren Menschen den Zugang erleichtern.

[Jaimie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The easy comparison for this graphic novel chronicling the stories of four child survivors of the Holocaust is Art Speigelman’s classic and groundbreaking publication Maus, but to my eye the two are so starkly different that the comparison doesn’t hold much real weight beyond a surface level. Sure, they both add to the canon of Holocaust remembrance, but I think that lumping survivor stories together too simply diminishes their uniqueness within the whole. But I Live breaks new ground in gathering stories told through the eyes of child survivors (now grown) with the idea of connecting younger readers to their historical contemporaries, and using a graphic novel format to further increase interest and accessibility. Their stories are told via an informal narrative of conversation between the artist and the survivor, focusing predominantly on historical memories but finding grounding through occasional moments of “current” conversation that bring the stories back into the present day. The personalities of all of the survivors (and their paired artist) come to the forefront with this technique, which brings to life their unique experiences which chronicle different aspects of the Holocaust depending on where each experience was - because, undoubtedly, not all Holocaust experiences were the same, even if common elements emerge. What I found startling about these stories was how new the narratives seemed, and how sharply real they became as the breadth and depth of human experience was explored. Whether it was the unsettling composition and frantic action of “A Kind of Resistance,” the soft palette and occasional humour of the Kamp brothers, or the repeating refrain of “I don’t remember” as Barbara Yelin’s memory circles through her trauma, the stories are a powerful example of oral history and arts-informed inquiry. As the editorial team explains in their afterword (a handy addition for educators and those looking for some expected academic substance and support), this is an exciting new mode of research that carries on the ever-important act of remembrance. May the shadows of these survivors (and others) continue to cast far as they continue to stand tall and bring history into the present.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

**Disclaimer: I recieved a free teaser eARC of But I Live by Miriam Libicki through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for this opportunity.

But I Live: Three Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust by Miriam Libicki is a collection of graphic novellas about children who survived the Holocaust.  The eARC is read was a sneak peak that contained just the first novella.  I rated it four stars on Goodreads.  It is set to be published on May 24th, 2022.


Here's the summary from Goodreads:

An intimate co-creation of three graphic novelists and four Holocaust survivors, But I Live consists of three illustrated stories based on the experiences of each survivor during and after the Holocaust.
David Schaffer and his family survived in Romania due to their refusal to obey Nazi collaborators. In the Netherlands, brothers Nico and Rolf Kamp were separated from their parents and hidden by the Dutch resistance in thirteen different places. Through the story of Emmie Arbel, a child survivor of the Ravensbrück and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps, we see the lifelong trauma inflicted by the Holocaust.
To complement these hauntingly beautiful and unforgettable visual stories, But I Live includes historical essays, an illustrated postscript from the artists, and personal words from each of the survivors.
As we urgently approach the post-witness era without living survivors of the Holocaust, these illustrated stories act as a physical embodiment of memory and help to create a new archive for future readers. By turning these testimonies into graphic novels, But I Live aims to teach new generations about racism, antisemitism, human rights, and social justice.

As mentioned above, I was only able to read a short part of the graphic novella collection, but honestly it was a very well written and designed story.  The art style was really lovely and really suited the emotional tone of the story.  I appreciated the colours and the design of each of the people that were included in the story.

The story itself was really beautiful and I liked how you saw the present of the survivor but also saw their story played out.  It had a lot of emotional resonance.  I found myself wanting more and to hear in even greater detail about this person.  

I do wish that I had been able to read the other two novellas in order to get a full image of the collection, but what I read was really interesting, and I think it's a must read.  You should definitely check it out when it publishes in May.

[Moira Macfarlane · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 mei Nationale Dodenherdenking en 5 mei Bevrijdingsdag.

Wie we herdenken is altijd ter discussie geweest. Wat we nooit meer willen ook.
Hoe deze dag wordt ingezet voor eigen(partij)belang en selectief de geschiedenis eigen maken, inclusief verdraaien en een beetje romantiseren hier en daar en een nieuwe groep tot zondebok maken is nu zelfs actueler dan ooit.
Dit nooit meer? Vandaag staan we stil bij vrijheid? En zeggen we straks opnieuw 'we wisten het niet'?

Dat eerst.

In dit boek komen diverse mensen aan bod. Vier Holocaustoverlevenden, die hun eigen verhaal vertellen over hun herinneringen aan en na de oorlog. Drie historische essays van verschillende deskundigen, die elk verhaal daarmee context gaven. En drie illustratoren, die, elk na intensief contact met de overlevenden, van hun verhaal een krachtige graphic novella maakten.

'By then, Jewish refugees had a very hard time finding ways to escape Nazi Germany. All European and also many non-European countries flatly refused tot take in Jewish refugees. They said their countries were already full. In the summer of 1938, an international conference was held in the town of Evian, on Lake Geneva. The topic was the refugee crisis in Europe, particularly regarding Jewish refugees. In a beautiful area with luxury accommodations and food, diplomats from many countries came together to discuss what to do.
However, the conference became a shameful affair, when country after country declared that they had no room for refugees. This lack of international solidarity was seen by the Nazis as a sign they could continue their plans.'

[Leighton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

But I Live, edited by Charlotte Schallié, is a collection of three autobiographical graphic novellas created by survivors of the Holocaust. Each graphic novella features the experiences of a child going through the Holocaust. According to the description, "the recent rise in antisemitic behaviour around the globe amplifies the need for more Holocaust survivor-centred stories." I'm so happy to support this book, because I think that it's so essential to learn about these atrocities so that we can prevent them from happening again.

Overall, But I Live is a riveting look into Nazi concentration camps. I was sent one of the three stories to review. One highlight of the story was the beautiful watercolor-like artwork. I loved reading the story because of the gorgeous art. Another highlight was the poignant and touching story. I felt myself getting emotional as I read about the author's experiences in the Ravensbruck concentration camp as a child. I can see this graphic novel being taught in classrooms everywhere. If you're intrigued by the description, you won't regret checking out this book when it comes out in May!

[Ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a true work of art.

But i Live features three novellas of retellings of Holocaust survivor's stories. Each person who requested the ARC was given one of the three stories to review and I was given "But I Live" which features artwork by Barbara Yelin and is a re-telling by Emmie Arbel. First things first, this story was haunting, It was certainly a novella, very short, but the pacing felt right. I liked that they included the interview as part of the story, it really made everything connect perfectly. Emmie Arbel isn't weak, she's so very strong. You can see how certain parts of her life will never be the same following the events that happened. Now for Yelin's artwork? I am absolutely stunned. The cover image alone for the story is jaw-dropping - I spent a good five minutes looking it over. The use of digital art to create intense oil-like paintings is such an incredible effect.

I would highly recommend this graphic novel! I would love to see what the other stories hold as well!

[Cherlynn | cherreading · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dark and haunting non-fiction graphic novella about the Holocaust. This particular installment tells the story of Emmie Arbel, who was deported to the Westerbork, Ravensbrück, and Bergen-Belsen camps when she was 5 years ago. Despite being a quick read of less than 40 pages, it's a heartwrenching tale about the horrors of war and its long-lasting effects. The watercolour art style added a layer of bleakness to an already sombre story.

I was a little disappointed to find that the digital arc I read is just one of three installments as I thought it would be the full book. There was none of the illustrated postscript and personal afterwords from the survivors as mentioned in the synopsis.

Overall, it was too short of a book for me to be fully invested despite the strong and impactful account from Emmie.

Thank you to University of Toronto Press and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.

[Dan Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is sad to label a book like But I Live timely, but considering the rise of Anti-Semtistm including hateful remarks from high-profile celebrities teaching people what this line of thinking can lead to is more important than ever.

This is not new for the medium of comics as mast works like Maus have been used to teach many the horrors of the Holocaust so But I Live looks to continue that legacy. Made up of three stories as well as historical and illustrations there is a lot to absorb in this one piece of work. Fittingly each story gets its own specific art style, which was the right choice to allow the art to speak specify to each situation.

Humans are capable of some awful things as But I Live demonstrates, but also the will to survive and resist is just as if not stronger. It has to be in order to ensure stories like this are told, and why it is as important as ever to listen.

[gingerfordays · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an eARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

This is an emotional and impactful graphic novel about three survivors of the Holocaust, however the eARC version provided to me only included the last story about Emmie Arbel, so my thoughts and opinions will only concern her story for now.

I read a quote once that said something about the duality of the art of doing things, but also the art of leaving things undone. This is very similar in the way that Emmie tells a descriptive and powerful recounting of her time spent in Ravensbrück concentration camp and her life since. She expresses an impressive amount of heart, humanity, and horror without saying hardly anything detailed.

I am very interested in the other two stories, and I will be purchasing myself a copy when this comes out.

[Ting Z. · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC

This is not representative of the whole book as only one story is provided in the e-ARC, but I do like what is presented.

The present day interspersed with Emmie Arbel's childhood ordeal of being in an internment camp provides not only an interestingly juxtaposing effect, the seamless transition between the two also illustrates the long-lasting impact the experience has on Arbel and many other Holocaust survivors alike. The art, with its painting-like quality, can be harrowing - especially in the splash pages.

Nevertheless, I feel like there could have been more depth or detail to the story; it seems like only the surface is explored as of now. Of course, straddling the line between telling a story and exploiting a survivor's traumatic experience can be tricky. Still, I think this will be a good addition to the existing graphic novels about the Holocaust.

[Tiphaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

|| Thank you to NetGalley and University of Toronto Press for providing me this arc in exchange for an honest review ! ||

The eARC I received only had the story called "But I Live", and I wish I was able to read the whole book with the different stories and the informations we could get after (according to the content table).

It was touching to see how Ima is still traumatized, haunted by what happened to her and her family, even in daily moments like having to be in a specific spot when inside a coffee shop or not being able to eat something she got forced to when younger. Her story is touching in a way that she sees herself as strong (and she is!) and not weak, how she doesn't like the word 'survivor'.

I liked the illustration and how everything were made, we could see the different timeline with no issue. It fitted really well with how the story was told, really grim and cold.

[Mandy Kell · Rating 5 out of 5]

But I Live, edited by Charlotte Schallie, is a poignant first hand account of holocaust survivors coupled with striking illustrations by four graphic novelists. I was able to read the story of Emmie Arbel, who experienced the horrors of two concentration camps as a child. The art in this story was done in a few tones and very fluid like watercolors. It created a muted but dignified atmosphere of respect for the difficult story Emmie recounted. This book is highly emotional and made me pause to think about the full impact of the holocaust and it's generational trauma. Beautiful and haunting, I give this graphic novel five stars and recommend anyone who is able to read it and learn about how such a terrible historical event is still affecting the world today.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for honest review.