October 1942 – Esther Stermer, along with some family
members and a group of other families, seek asylum underground
to evade being caught by pursuing Nazis. They remain
hidden below for nearly a year and a half – the longest
recorded uninterrupted underground survival occurrence.
Their harrowing story is unearthed by accident when cave
explorer Chris Nicola, stumbles upon remnants left behind
by the cave dwellers. Through extensive research and determination,
Nicola locates a few of the survivors and has them
share their incredible story of strength and perseverance.
This film is “an Inspiring tale of endurance” Philadelphia Inquirer
“An Amazing Chapter on WWII History” Minneapolis
Star Tribune. The documentary film screening will be followed
by a discussion led by Chris Nicola

Chris Nicola was born in England in 1951. He and his family
immigrated to the US settling ultimately in New York City.
In the Mid 70’s Nicola began his life as an explorer by scuba
diving in the caves of central Florida. He has participated,
organized and/or lead over 40 caving expeditions in the
Americas, Oceana, Africa, Caribbean and Europe. Today he
spends most of his free time caving, being a public speaker,
and further developing a story that he first heard as a rumor
in Ukraine 20 years ago; a story of how a group of Jews survived
the Holocaust by living in a cave for over a year. To date
he has confirmed the story by locating 14 of the original 38
cave dwellers, co-authored a book that led to the making
of a documentary about their experiences. Nicola runs the
Priest’s Grotto Heritage Project; a genocide awareness project
in which the grandchildren of those who lived in Priest’s
Grotto Cave during the Holocaust will be working hand-inhand
with the grandchildren of those who lived above the
cave in building an exhibit to honor what those courageous
38 did so long ago, and hopefully, by keeping this story alive
for future generations, prevent such genocides as the Holocaust
from ever happening again.