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Megan Jenkins

Mr. Neuburger

English Comp. 101-130

March 27, 2012

Survivor Testimony

Kristine Kerne

Kristine Kerne was from Poland. She grew up fairly wealthy. Her family lived in a nice

apartment; they had two bathrooms with running water. Their apartment had a beautiful kitchen;

they heated the apartment with a fireplace that burned coal. She talks about when her brother was

born; she said it was on a Sunday. Kristine remembered the craziness and how she had to leave

and her mother was staying. Her nanny took her to the park when she got home they showed

Kristine her new baby brother. She asks her mother where he came from and her mother replied

I set sugar on the window seal and the stork came and took the sugar and left your brother at the

house. Kristine explains how protective she was over her little brother. She begins to talk about

how the extermination starts and how her family escapes into a man hole. Kristine talks about the

huge rats trying to get what little food they had, she told about how her brother and her played

with the rats to keep them from going crazy. They lived in the tunnel for 14 months. She talks

about there being a fire and the man had to beat it out and told about a flood that was 5 foot deep.

Kristine thought they would all die because there was no escape. She explained how tough it was

and how they could only leave when it wouldnt be suspicious, they wanted to leave when they

would look like workers. There were 11 people that lived with her. Kristines mother, father, and

brother lived in a tunnel in a man hole. There was a religious one, Haskill, the cook, 2 younger

women, an older woman, another woman, and a pregnant one. Kristine called the older woman

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grandma, the older woman died before they made it out. The pregnant one tried to hide her

pregnancy knowing it was too dangerous for the group. Eventually her day came and Kristines

father delivered the infant, he tied the umbilical cord with shoe laces and cut it with rusty

scissors. Kristines mother talked to the young girl and noticed the girl trying to suffocate the

baby boy with her pocketbook. Her mother fell asleep that night and when they woke up the

baby was dead. The young girl killed the baby to save the group. Kristine tells how her father sat

all night to hear the word that they could finally get out. She tells about how it was winter and

cold and they traveled by train or anyway they could get away. Kristine had to suffer in a tunnel

for 14 months; they were damp most of the time. She told how she couldnt see; she had been in

the dark for so long the light hurt her eyes. Kristine told about how her brother shouted I want

to go back. He tells how he was scared because that was all he had known for a year and a half.