Jordan Wiertzema - Survivor Testimony 1

Kristine Keren was born in Poland October 28, 1935 making her 63 at the time of her interview. She had one brother in her family and he lived with her unfortunately dying in the Israeli Army later in 1978. Her brother was born May 18, 1939 in Poland like her as well. She grew up in the city in a large apartment that had many rooms she describes as spacious and beautiful.  Her mother used to play the piano for her family and they had many paintings and other things that made their apartment look more modern. When she was young she did not distinguish herself from other children as being Jewish and did not really notice if those she played with were Jewish or not. She attended Kindergarten but she did not go to school until after Liberation at the end of the war. Also, the store her father ran was taken from him when the Russians came into Poland in 1939. The Russians made life very hard for her parents.

                However, the Germans changed her life and the lives of her family forever. Kristine Keren’s grandfather was taken from her by the Germans and her father followed them and saw them kill him and other Jews they had taken. Her cousin was also taken, she and her brother survived by hiding though. If it wasn’t for her father building hiding spots for her, her mother and her brother to hide, they very well could have been killed early on. By hiding in the sewers under the city in which she lived her and her family was able to survive and avoid detection from the Germans. She eventually was married to a man who lived on the exact same street as her, a holocaust survivor as well.