Grace Holley

UWRT 1103-007
Weekly Writing 2
Professor Wertz-Orbaugh
January 23, 2016
As I sat down to watch the survivor testimony from Reva Kibort, I was expecting
this to be a long two hours. While the beginning had a slow start, as Reva began to speak
and tell her story I was hypnotized by what she had to say. Youngest of five siblings,
Reva was able to survive two prison camps, escaping death at every turn.
In my mind, I picture Holocaust survivors to be frail, older people. Frail would
never be the word I would use to describe her. Strong and courageous, Reva shared her
survival testimony with strength, vulnerability, and true honesty. She began describing
the conditions in Warsaw, Poland before her and her family were separated. Within
weeks of German occupation, all Jews were forced into ghettos where they lives multiple
families to one living space and food was beginning to be rationed and starvation was on
the rise.
Reva shared her lowest points and her highest, most hopeful points. Some of her
lowest were the conditions of the work camps, and the deep feeling of hunger that never
quite went away. Her most hopeful times were when she made it out with the remaining
members of her family and when she made the voyage to America.
One thing that constantly surprised me throughout the testimony was Revas
constant hopeful spirit. In conditions such as the work camps, their main goal was to
break the spirit and strip them of anything human. The Nazis wanted these prisoners to

act like the animals they believed them to be. Reva escaped death numerous times. From
a young age in the camps, she described feeling like, It was my destiny to survive. And
that she did. Reva made it though the impossible because she knew that if she survived,
she was going to make sure that people were aware of the treatment the Jewish people
endured.
Reva has one of the strongest human spirits I have witnessed in my life. It is one
thing to make it through a work camp but then to turn around and live a normal life is
incredible. She described in the testimony that she reminded herself to Always, always,
have hope. We all have moments in our lives that challenge, inspire, and define us and
Reva embraced hers with resilience and grace.
What surprised me was much work the Nazis had Reva do even at a young age.
Having some background knowledge of the Holocaust, I previous thought young children
were immediately taken from their families and sent to death. Being able to go to a work
camp was ironically the first lucky break Reva had in her years in the work camps.
As clich as it is, another thing that surprised me from Kiborts testimony was
how much we really do take for granted in society in todays day in age. We like our
comfortable ways of living, endless food at our disposal, and the ability to go just about
anywhere with current methods of transportation. While the Kibort family lived a modest
life at best, they had each other and that was what controlled their happiness. Today we
hold our happiness in things, not people. Reva taught me a couple things in these two
short hours: even in your darkest day, hope is alive. Life can be changed in a blink of an
eye, so be grateful for today.