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 Ravensbruck 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.

About the Author
Charlotte Schallie is a professor and chair in the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies at the University of Victoria. Barbara Yelin studied illustration at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences. In 2014, Yelin published the award-winning graphic novel Irmina. Gilad Seliktar is an acclaimed graphic novelist and children's book illustrator. Miriam Libicki holds an MFA in Creative Writing and is an award-winning graphic novelist.

Reviews
"The superb, heart-rending book But I Live: Three Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust collects the testimonies of four survivors in a graphic narrative format for new generations. It is a powerful and indispensable educational tool not just for high school students, for whom it was designed, but for anyone. Readers can now carry these indelible stories forward." * Quill & Quire *
"I'm convinced that we need more books like this, so that we can preserve a terrible history in a way that makes it easily accessible on the one hand, but also allows a different, very personal access to the stories on the other. I think that this book belongs with Maus in every bookcase." -- Tobi Dahmen, comic artist and illustrator * www.tobidahmen.de *
"The graphic narratives in But I Live are powerful and relate the Holocaust stories in profound and intense ways that words alone cannot. Created for middle readers, this book is suitable for adults too." -- Beverly Cramp * BC BookWorld *
"Last week I was given a gift of sadness, a gift of violence, fear, tragedy and suffering...But it was also a gift of courage, extraordinary determination, unimaginable resilience, and ultimately triumph...The gift came in the form of a recently published collection of three graphic novellas called But I Live. It is a remarkable achievement bringing together four survivors with three writer/illustrators who help portray the harrowing journey of the survivors' young lives." -- Chris * In a Spacious Place *
"The combination of stories and artwork is powerful and chilling." -- Dean Poling * Valdosta Daily Times *
"Who should read this book? Young adults, for sure. But also teachers. Makers of memorials and exhibitions. Historians, literary and art scholars, everyone." -- Christian Staas * Die Zeit *


Awards
Winner of The Kahn Family Foundation Prize for Holocaust Awarded by the Western Canada Jewish Book Awards 2023 (Canada) and 2022 Canadian Jewish Literary Award for Biography 2022 (Canada) and 2023 Prose Award for Biography/Autobiography Awarded by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) 2023 (United States) and 2023 Prose Award for Nonfiction Graphic Novels Awarded by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) 2023 (United States). Commended for 2022 Foreword INDIES for Graphic Novels and Comics Awarded by Foreword Reviews 2023 (United States). Short-listed for JewCie Award for Diverse Representation Awarded by the Center for Jewish History 2023 (Canada) and 2023 Excellence in Graphic Literature Award for Book of the Year Awarded by Pop Culture Classroom 2023 (United States) and 2023 Excellence in Graphic Literature Award for Young Adult Non-Fiction Awarded by Pop Culture Classroom 2023 (United States) and 2023 Vine Award for Canadian Jewish Literature - Young Adult/Children Awarded by the Koffler Centre of the Arts 2025 (Canada) and 2023 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards for Best Reality-Based Work 2023 (United States).



Book Information
ISBN 9781487526849
Author Charlotte Schallie
Format Hardback
Page Count 200
Imprint University of Toronto Press
Publisher University of Toronto Press
Weight(grams) 960g
Dimensions(mm) 286mm * 222mm * 23mm