|
|
The Hell Above, and Salvation Below |
In the spring of 1943 odds of a Ukrainian Jew surviving World War II were less than 5%. Hitler’s final solution had reached a furious climax with no safe place left to hide; except below ground, in a cave. This is the story of how several families chose this option, and fought to survive during one of the darkest times in history.
Outside the cave genocide against Ukrainian Jews intensified, and as spring turned to summer the risk that the Jews would be discovered increased dangerously.
Faced with isolation, sensory deprivation and the constant threat of starvation, each of them adapted quickly to their hostile new environment. They built lanterns from old bottles, gathered water from the cave’s lakes and defended their entrance against the Nazi’s with their lives. In the end they never, never relented in defense of their underground fortress.
Upon liberating themselves from the cave, nearly one year later, they could barely recognize one another once outside. But the daylight was no longer their enemy, and they were free.
Of the 14,000 Jews living in the area before the war, fewer than 300 had survived.
Decades, later local cavers discovered several old shoes, stonewalls, and a hand made millstone. By that point no one could remember what had actually happened there.
Now, for the first time, following a decade of research by American caver Chris Nicola, their story can be told; A Story of Triumph, Not Defeat!
Click here for additional information
Chris has delivered lectures for a number of organizations, to include the BBC, New York City's "42nd Street Y", National Public Radio, the Explorers Club, National Geographic, the New York Academy of Science, the United Nations School, the National Speleological Society, the Simon Wiesenthal Center (May 2011), the Association of Jewish Librarians, and the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies. In addition, his work has been covered by such periodicals/newspapers as Publishers Weekly, Newsday, the New York Daily News, Outside Magazine, Reader's Digest, Natural History Magazine, the Miami Herald, the Houston Chronicle, Adventure Magazine, the NBC Today Show, and the Montreal Gazette.
Ver.
08/18/10