The Story of a LifeAn astonishing memoir of the Holocaust through the eyes of a child, and an exquisite meditation on memory and trauma Aharon Appelfeld was the beloved only child of middle class Jewish parents living in what is now Ukraine at the outbreak of World War Two. Their peaceful life is upended when soldiers invade their town. His mother is shot dead in her own garden. The then seven year old Aharon does not witness her murder, but he does hear her scream.