Kristine Keren Survior Testimony

Testimony #1
Sapphire Armstrong Filkins

Kristine Keren’s was one of the most inspirational stories of the Holocaust testimonies to me. Kristine Keren was born in Lwow, Poland in October of 1935. Keren was a normal child in Lwow, she had one younger brother and her parent’s owned a textile store. The German army turned Keren’s family’s life upside down whenever they invaded Lwow in 1941, when Keren was 6. The German army forced Keren’s family to move from their apartment with almost no possessions to the Lwow Jewish ghetto. By 1944 Keren’s family had heard the rumors of the German’s plans to eradicate and transport masses of people to unknown destinations. Keren witnessed members of her family, like her cousin and grandfather, being captured by the Nazi’s. Keren herself describes narrowly escaping the Nazi’s with her brother. While escaping the Nazi’s Keren recalls that “She was very aware, like an animal with my instincts because I had to take care of my brother who was 3 at the time.” Keren was only 8 at the time of these incidents, showing the immense responsibility that children where dealt during those hard times. It was then that they decided to hide in the sewers of the Jewish Ghetto in which they were kept after failed attempts at hiding in their apartment. Keren’s family stayed underground for fourteen months with a group of others, they survived with the help of a Catholic sewer worker named Socha. During this time Keren adjusted to sleeping in lice infested clothing, darkness, and the constant presence of sewer rats. Keren describes, “Those fourteen months seemed like fourteen years.” After the allied bombing’s Keren and her family were able to emerge from the sewer. After these experiences Keren went on to experience regular school pretending to be a Chrisitian and became a dentist.