I am in the group Children. And my topic is children survivors. This topic is amazing so far. I really enjoy hearing and reserching all these stories. I want to tell you about a couple of survivors. I have one lady who gave me very good information. Im so excited to tell you everthing about my topic! My first girl is named Krystyna Chiger.

     Krystyna Chiger was 7 years old when her father told them about the ghetto. They would go and hide in the celler at night when her mother came home from work. She said the sewer was really wet, dark, and scary.

Krystyna Chiger in 1941. There were yellow worms and red rats running around she was afraid at first but then she got used to it. She was in there for at least 5 weeks just laying down because the space was so small. She couldn't move because her body wasn't used to moving. There was about 20 other people crammed in there with her and her family. She said it was very smushed. The only was we survived is because the Polish sewer workers would bring us bread and butter everyday. They didn't get noticed because they came through different sewer entrances each day. She had to be very quiet so no one would ear them. We only had one tiny lamp, very little light came out. One day it was really scary because a sewer worker who wasnt ours found out hiding place. Thankfully they ran into there old sewer workers and they helped us find a new place. The new place was really cold and they couldn't stand it. They got to the new place and it went from 20 people to 11, the rest died. The new place was much bigger. Her dad made cots out of some wood he had. Krystyna had to sleep with her dad and one other man she didn't know. She didn't mind, she was young and cold. One of the women actually gave birth to a child. Krystyna got measles really bad, and so did her brother. We lived in the sewers for 14 months. They could hear the cannons going off when the germans came. One day they heard knocking on there sewer door and theat was there signal that they were free!    

        Lili Silberman was 4 years old when she got seperated to go to an orphanage. After a few months the director of the orphanage started to suspect that they might discover the jewish children, so we had to return to our parents.The next day some man came and took Lili and her brother to a train headed to Bruges. Lili was idmeatly seperated from her brother. They were at a place cared for by nuns. Lili was equally afraid of the nuns as she was the older kids. Sometimes she said the older kids would abuse the younger children.They barley had any food, all they had was worms and molded bread. They didn't recive any clothing or air conditioning. She never remembered bathing. She never saw her tooth brush. There was no toilet paper. Lili woke up often to lice crawling in her ear and she had a chronic bloody infection on her scalp. 

     Even in the winter they had to go outside. Lili got numb alot from the cold, she had frostbite all over. She said she was scarred for years. She really wanted to be with her mother and father. She missed all the memorys she had with them. She didn't want to be heard so she didn't cry. She also missed her brother, he was her protector. When the head nun would appear she tryed to get the nun to relize her loneliness she wanted to just be looked at, got a hug, just some attention. Everything that Lili wanted was taken from her, everything but the memories she had in her head.

     After 5 years of the tourture Lili and her brother were reunited to their parents. She felt so bad for them that she tried to behave and be the best little girl they had. She did not want to cause them any trouble. She grew up waiting for her parents to ask her about her trip to the orphanage. She still and would forever have those painful memories in her head.Lili's brother tryed to forget about his past so he didn't hang around Lili for much longer. They didn't get near as close as they were before the incident. Lili said,"When, through the years, I encountered unexpected kindnesses from strangers, the tears began to flow and I welcomed them. And, today, I can finally say I have found my peace."

Lili Silberman and brother, Charles, with their mother in Brussels

before going into hiding.

credits:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

http://www.adl.org/children_holocaust/children_main1.asp

Silberman, Lili. "Beyond Secret Tears." Children of the Holocaust. 2001. adl. 19 Nov. 2008 <http://www.adl.org/children_holocaust/story_beyond_tears2.asp>.

Holende, Magistrate Holende M. "Krystyna's Story." Children of the Holocaust. 2001. adl. 19 Nov. 2008 <http://www.adl.org/children_holocaust/story_krystyna3.asp>.