YORKTOWN, Va. — A seventh grader in York County is the recent winner of a poetry contest at her school, Tabb Middle.
Eliya Friedler didn't have to look far to find her inspiration behind the poem "From Holocaust to Revival."
Her great-grandmother is a survivor of the Holocaust.
"She's still alive, she's 92," Eliya said. "She never quit, she always tried to remember the good things."
Leah Friedler survived her time in the infamous concentration camp Auschwitz as a teenage girl. She's passed along her story of survival to her family, and now Eliya is retelling the story in her own words.
Eliya spoke very little English when her family moved to Hampton Roads from Israel. In fact, she originally wrote the piece in Hebrew and later translated it to English with the help of her tutor.
"At the beginning of this year, I still had broken English," Eliya said. "I knew how to count and colors and my name is Eliya, things like that."
A gifted writer, the seventh-grade student now speaks with poise and grace. Her poem recently won first place for her school's "Poetry Slam" contest.
The Friedler family is moving back to Israel at the end of this school year. But Eliya's teachers say she's left a lasting impact on the school.