Celia K.

Resister / Survivor

 

My name is Alli Kellerman, and I decided to research Celia K. after reading her story in Witness: Voices from the Holocaust.  Her story inspired me so much and it made me want to share her story with more people.  I then formulated a plan, with the help of my English IV Honors teacher, Mrs. Kollbaum, and my school’s Principal, Mr. Pasero.  I decided to use quotes from Celia’s story and make a five minute reading to read to second hour study hall.  I also placed an informational poster in the back and the book that was my source in the back so that the students would be able to get more information about Celia.  I encouraged them to keep her story alive by passing it on to as many people as possible.

 

This is what I read to my peers at my school's Media Center:

 

Friday, May 8th

  

 

Hello 2nd Hour Study Hall.  I’m Alli Kellerman and I am here today to share some information with you about a Resistor and a Survivor of the Holocaust, Celia K.

 

If hearing her story sparks your interest in any way and you would like to learn more about Celia, please feel free to check out the information board placed on the career bookshelf in the back of the media center.

 

The reading is not terribly long, so please take a moment and really listen to Celia’s words.  If you feel so inspired, share her story with someone else, your parents, a friend, anyone, because that is the goal here today.  To Share Celia’s story - because “to listen to a witness is to become a witness.”  Here is her story:

 

“They said war broke out, and it was bombing, constant bombing,  And everyone was going towards east.  The roads were littered with trucks and bodies and bodies everywhere.  And I was swept with this tide of people going east.  I had no idea how to get home.  I had no idea how my family fared.  And everyone was trying to evacuate, but there was no way.   No way! After some time I realized I want to go home.  So instead of going east, I started heading west.  There was a Polish girl in my dormitory who was very good to me, who helped me out a lot.  And I figured out, “Gee, she’s only a couple of miles away from here.  I’ll stop there and I’ll get something to wear, to cover myself.”  I had a flimsy nightgown on.  As soon as I came down to her gate, she said, “Get away from here, you dirty Jew!”  And this is the first time it hit me, that I really understood what it’s all about.  It really didn’t hit me until then.”

 

“They organized a ghetto. People were pushed in like sardines.  The windows were boarded up.  We were not allowed to go out and get water.  Every day there were different decrees.  “Jews turn in your bicycles.  Jews turn in your valuables.  Jews turn in your winter coats.  Jewish children are not allowed to go to school.  Jews, don’t walk on the sidewalks.”  Of course, we had to walk on the streets, and the Germans had the pleasure of riding over us with cars, with anything they wanted to hit us.”

 

“I worked in the Kommandantur (German command post). This helped me a lot because I could see and hear what was going on, and this is how we found out that the action will take place in the ghetto.”

 

“The wires were cut beforehand.  We all pushed towards the back of the ghetto, and we all ran into the woods.  A lot of people escaped.  I turned around and saw a classmate of mine who was a policeman, and his rifle jammed.  He looked at me and I looked at him.   And that’s the only reason I am alive.  His rifle jammed.  He couldn’t shoot me.  So I escaped.”

 

“When they exterminated our ghetto and the surrounding little ghettos, the Germans were afraid of Jews congregating in the woods.  So they sent out shelihim (messengers) to the woods with loudspeakers:  “You’ll be safe if you all come to Glubokoye,” which is a big ghetto.  “You’ll be given work.  You’ll be given housing.  Please come to the ghetto, to Glubokoye.” Well, of course, we knew that eventually Glubokoye would be exterminated, too.  But we had no choice. You couldn’t live in the woods anymore because you were hunted down like animals.  So a lot of people started going towards Glubokoye, including myself and my little sister.  When I came to Glubokoye, all of a sudden, my mother comes up.  I didn’t know she was alive! She said to me, “What business did you have to come here?  I fed you and clothed you for so many years, and now you’re a parasite.  Out you go! You were in hiding.  Why did you come here?”  My mother was really vicious, but she had a purpose.  She wanted me to live.  And then she broke down.  She started crying, and she said:  “Look, Darling, I do love you. You know I do.  The reason I want you to go is because at least one person should remain alive of the family.”  She said, “You know we are all going to be killed in here.  Please go.”

 

“I can’t begin to tell you what it meant to be in hiding.  The guy made a hole under the floor in the barn.  The hole consisted of maybe as wide as I was, two feet, and as long as I was.  You couldn’t turn. If you crawled in on your stomach, you remained on your stomach.  If you crawled in on your back, you remained on your back.  Sometimes, when it was quiet, he would pull me up by my legs and give me a chance to straighten out my bones and give me a little food. But it was harvest time, and the barn was full of workers. So sometimes I remained for a week, ten days in one position, under the floor in this hole.  There was no other way.”

 

“After lying under a floor for almost a year and a half, I didn’t have any muscles.  I was soft.  I was achy.  He told me in which general direction I should go.  “The partisans should be here and here and here.” After wandering about at night in the dark, cold, my feet swell up something awful.  I didn’t know how to walk anymore.  I heard some footsteps. “Halt!” in Russian.  “Who are you?” So I said to them, “I’m Jewish.”  “What’s your name?” I told them.  “How do we know who you are?” I said, “Well, I have two brothers who are partisans.  Their names are such and such.” “Okay. We know who they are.  Come with us.”  They took me and led me to the partisan camp.”

 

“They wanted me to work in the kitchen, being a Jew and being a girl.  I said, “I’m volunteering for the patrol.”  I was given a horse, I was given ammunition, and I was given an assignment.”

 

Thank you for listening and if you have any questions about anything I said or a specific word, head back and check the board to see if I put it up there.

 

Share this story with someone else.  Spread this story beyond our walls.  Keep an eye out on social media for some of my classmates projects as well.