I Am Fifteen--And I Don't Want to Die

Christine Arnothy was just 15 years old in 1945. Here, she tells the moving story of fear and death, hunger and thirst as she hides in a cellar with her family from the marching tides of the German and Russian armies during the siege of Budapest. Praying she would survive, asking herself whether her terrifying experiences would ever be over, and mourning the loss of some of her fellow refugees, Christine found solace in her imagination and dreamed of having a life of her own. Christine Arnothy's story is a poignant coming-of-age memoir and a remarkable tale of ordinary lives destroyed by war. It was first published in 1955 in Paris as Jai quinze ans et je ne veux pas mourir.