What do you think?
Rate this book
The Secret of Priest's Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story
According to legend, a group of Jewish families survived the Holocaust by hiding out for months in the 77 miles of caves in Ukraine known as Priest's Grotto. Cavers Taylor and Nicola chronicle their trip to explore the caves and uncover the story of the survivors.
64 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2006
5 people are currently reading
280 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
February 24, 2018
This was one of the most fascinating Holocaust survival stories I’ve ever read. Can you imagine living in a series of caves deep underground for 344 days, without once seeing the sun? That is what a group of Jewish villagers, all related by blood or marriage, did to escape from the Nazis during World War II in Ukraine. The details of their life underground are described by the survivors, whom Taylor tracked down and interviewed. He then went to the Ukraine and joined a team of spelunkers to venture into the caves, where they found artifacts left behind by the villagers, including names that they wrote on the cave walls. Their physical and mental survival under such stressful conditions is a testament to their courage and familial bond. Taylor includes lots of photos of them then and now, as well as photos of the caves and the artifacts and a map of the cave system. If you think that living underground in a cave might be fun, this book will change your mind. Recommended for anyone interested in caves or the Holocaust—a most unique narrative.
March 13, 2012
Four stars for being an AMAZING story with a historical and modern thread - the historical about the extended family that hid in two caves, one barely explored, during WWII, and the modern about researcher-spelunkers who investigated the second of the caves and found out just how far the historical family had travelled and how they lived for so long underground. This book is appealing for being about WWII survival, for being about caves, for being about living underground, and for having incredible photos. It's also tragic - the family's losses in the escape from one cave into the other, and the cruel way in which Jews who had managed to survive the Holocaust were treated even after the slaughter was over are heart-wrenching.
I only wish that Sally Walker had written this book, because the writing is okay but not stellar, and there's a really annoying repeat in the text - there will be extended callout text (collected from what must be a fascinating unpublished account of the family's experience) that is exactly repeated in the smaller, regular text. One doesn't like to overstate how cool a Holocaust survival story is, it seems sensationalistic, but this is as cool a sciencyhistory story as they come.
I only wish that Sally Walker had written this book, because the writing is okay but not stellar, and there's a really annoying repeat in the text - there will be extended callout text (collected from what must be a fascinating unpublished account of the family's experience) that is exactly repeated in the smaller, regular text. One doesn't like to overstate how cool a Holocaust survival story is, it seems sensationalistic, but this is as cool a sciencyhistory story as they come.
January 8, 2014
Bought this picture book to add to our collection of books set in Ukraine/Russia. Summary: "Two explorers survey caves in the Western Ukraine and relate the story of how an extended Jewish family, fleeing persecution by the Nazis, lived for two years in a large cave, Popowa Yama, and survived the war."
The author talked to survivors, gathered old photos, talked to the modern-day cave explorers, and described day-to-day life underground. 36 people lived in this cave system for over a year. Those who did not sneak out to get supplies did not see sunlight (or moonlight) for over 300 days. I found it fascinating that they completely broke the Official World Record of the man who voluntarily spent 200+ days underground (he had catered meals and stayed warm). The Jewish families in Ukraine were starving, wet and cold, but they pulled together and survived. Amazing true story of World War 2 survivors.
The author talked to survivors, gathered old photos, talked to the modern-day cave explorers, and described day-to-day life underground. 36 people lived in this cave system for over a year. Those who did not sneak out to get supplies did not see sunlight (or moonlight) for over 300 days. I found it fascinating that they completely broke the Official World Record of the man who voluntarily spent 200+ days underground (he had catered meals and stayed warm). The Jewish families in Ukraine were starving, wet and cold, but they pulled together and survived. Amazing true story of World War 2 survivors.
January 17, 2009
Another amazing story from the Holocaust about an extended family who survives for nearly a year hidden in caves underground. It is a dual story told from the perspective of cavers who discover this cave and set out to learn about this family. One of the family members in the cave wrote her story which I also read titled "We fight to survive". It is not widely published but I found it through the Queensborough Community College in NYC and through inter-library loan was able to read it. It was not well-written but told the very personal story of their survival. Truly amazing!
November 24, 2009
Underneath the quiet, serene wheat fields in Ukraine, there lies an underground web of crystalline caves covering over 340 miles. In 2003, two American cavers arrived to explore and photograph these wonders. While there, villagers told them about how 38 Jews hid out in the caves to escape capture by the Nazis during World War II. Thus began an investigation that reads like an adventure story with a suspenseful plot and interesting characters--and it's all true!
September 2, 2017
Amazing story of survival, great photos. I wish that Esther Stermer's book We Fight to Survive was more readily available. (The cheapest used price I can find online is $500.) I would love to read it.
October 20, 2019
Cavers Christos Nicola and Peter Lane Taylor, having found proof of human habitation during one of their trips within the local cave system, talked with locals who revealed the rumor that there were Jews hiding underground in the caves beneath the Ukraine during the second World War. Apparently the Giant Gypsum Caves is one of the largest in the world and is still mostly unexplored but these families were willing to move in in order to not be transported to a Nazi ghetto.
It took years, but eventually, the explorers found relatives of those families and even some of the survivors themselves. They were willing to discuss and reconstruct their nearly year-long residence in various areas of the caverns. The ingenuity. Maintaining their sanity in the darkness. Knowing that deeper exploration could mean finding a secondary escape route or being lost forever. The fear of being discovered. Wondering if they were going to survive especially when Ukraine collaborators buried the entrance to the Priest's Grotto. Access to food and water. Living in fear of daylight and the children forgetting what the sun was.
It was years later, Nicola and Taylor went into the caves at the entrance of the Stermer's hideout and it was hundreds of meters into the darkness that they found even more confirming evidence. Names written in fire ash over the area where they cooked. Buttons, broken pottery, shoes, millstone, and other artifacts left behind when they fled the caves when it was reported the Germans had retreated out of the area.
Basically, it's all about family loyalty and their ability to survive. Esther Stermer's book on their experience says it all We Fight to Survive. That they did.
2019-148
It took years, but eventually, the explorers found relatives of those families and even some of the survivors themselves. They were willing to discuss and reconstruct their nearly year-long residence in various areas of the caverns. The ingenuity. Maintaining their sanity in the darkness. Knowing that deeper exploration could mean finding a secondary escape route or being lost forever. The fear of being discovered. Wondering if they were going to survive especially when Ukraine collaborators buried the entrance to the Priest's Grotto. Access to food and water. Living in fear of daylight and the children forgetting what the sun was.
It was years later, Nicola and Taylor went into the caves at the entrance of the Stermer's hideout and it was hundreds of meters into the darkness that they found even more confirming evidence. Names written in fire ash over the area where they cooked. Buttons, broken pottery, shoes, millstone, and other artifacts left behind when they fled the caves when it was reported the Germans had retreated out of the area.
Basically, it's all about family loyalty and their ability to survive. Esther Stermer's book on their experience says it all We Fight to Survive. That they did.
2019-148
September 12, 2023
An amazing true story of resilience and the will to survive the Holocaust in Ukraine. The extended Stermer family fled their home in western Ukraine to avoid the ghettos. Under the cover of darkness, the Stermers and their extended families quietly crossed large fields to find solace in the caves located in Popowa Yama. Narrowly escaping capture in one cave, the family congregated in a cavern now known as the Priest's Grotto, whose entrance is an unremarkable sinkhole. For over eighteen months, the families hid in the dark crevices and rooms of the grotto, surviving on foraged rations.
The survival of the families became a legend in western Ukraine, but today, few people remember or know the actual story or even if it is true. Cave explorers Nicola and Taylor set out to unravel the mystery and look for evidence of the survivor's location. A chance response to a message on a website would connect the cave explorers to the Stermer family, now living in Canada and the United States.
This book recounts the Stermer's story, and the discovery of the cave and artifacts left behind. It is hard to imagine surviving in a cave in near-total darkness for even a day, much less eighteen months. This is a story that needs to be told. This book is full of pictures of the family from the 1940s and today, as well as pictures from the cave. There is a 2012 documentary called No Place On Earth that follows the story of the families and the cavers.
The survival of the families became a legend in western Ukraine, but today, few people remember or know the actual story or even if it is true. Cave explorers Nicola and Taylor set out to unravel the mystery and look for evidence of the survivor's location. A chance response to a message on a website would connect the cave explorers to the Stermer family, now living in Canada and the United States.
This book recounts the Stermer's story, and the discovery of the cave and artifacts left behind. It is hard to imagine surviving in a cave in near-total darkness for even a day, much less eighteen months. This is a story that needs to be told. This book is full of pictures of the family from the 1940s and today, as well as pictures from the cave. There is a 2012 documentary called No Place On Earth that follows the story of the families and the cavers.
February 13, 2011
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Chris Nicola traveled to the Ukraine to explore the gypsum caves of the region, which had not previously been open to Americans. On one of the trips, he heard locals telling stories about Jews who had gone into a cave during World War II, but no one was sure what happened to them. In his explorations, he found man-made walls and artifacts, and began to search for information. Nearly ten years later, there was an email from the neighbor of Sol Wexler, who was one of the 38 survivors. This is the story of Sol, his cousins the Stermers, the Dodyk family and the Kurz family. As Jews in wartime Eastern Europe, they faced being forced into Nazi ghettos and death camps. Instead, they chose leave their homes at midnight on October 12, 1942 to hide in the first of two local caves. With no weapons and limited supplies, the group lived in fear, darkness, constant chill and damp, making dangerous supply runs at night. When the Nazis discovered their first hiding spot in late March of 1943, Esther Stermer blocked their advance and stood toe-to-toe with the commander, challenging him so that her family might have more time to escape through the hidden exit. The few who were captured managed to escape and return, and the group moved to the larger Popowa Yama cave where they lived in darkness until April 12, 1944. Family love and loyalty are central to this amazing story of courage and survival against all odds. The design of this book is color coded -- pages telling the survivors' stories are colored, with historic photographs and maps and quotes from Esther Stermer's own memoir of their time in the caves. Pages showing modern photos and details of the expeditions into the caves are white, with photos of artifacts within the caves. Part archaeology, part survival story, and all history, this is an amazing record of human strength and will. A must-read for the Holocaust unit in 8th grade
October 9, 2014
Taylor, P. & Nicola C. (2007). The Secret of Priest's Groto: A Holocaust Survival Story. Minnesota: Kar-Ben Publishing.
2008 NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People.
Informational Book Choice.
This book was very interesting. It told the story of how a couple of families stuck together to live during WWII and the Holocaust. One of the main Families talked about their experience during WWII and the Holocaust. They were scared for their lives, they didn't know if they were going to live throughout the war. They stuck together and risked their lives to get food and the needed materials they needed. They were determined not to go to a concetration camp, because they knew that was an automatic death sentence. They fled their town in search for a good hiding spot. The first place they hid was in a popular tourist attraction cave. They lived there for a few months when the cave wasn't open to the public. But, then they were found by the Germans. Most of them escaped. The families then made their way to Popowa Yama -Priest's Groto. Here is where they would spend almost a year in hiding, trying to stay safe. The men of the camp would only venture out at night for food and supplies. A few people who lived around the groto helped teh Families in the Groto. One night, the families almost were killed because Nazis Police had found their hiding place. But, fortunately the near by farmer's destracted th Nazis.
This is a good book for 4-12 graders. It tells the story of how some Jewish people survived the Holocaust and WWII. This book wasn't too violent for young children. This book would be good to teach children about a historical event.
2008 NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People.
Informational Book Choice.
This book was very interesting. It told the story of how a couple of families stuck together to live during WWII and the Holocaust. One of the main Families talked about their experience during WWII and the Holocaust. They were scared for their lives, they didn't know if they were going to live throughout the war. They stuck together and risked their lives to get food and the needed materials they needed. They were determined not to go to a concetration camp, because they knew that was an automatic death sentence. They fled their town in search for a good hiding spot. The first place they hid was in a popular tourist attraction cave. They lived there for a few months when the cave wasn't open to the public. But, then they were found by the Germans. Most of them escaped. The families then made their way to Popowa Yama -Priest's Groto. Here is where they would spend almost a year in hiding, trying to stay safe. The men of the camp would only venture out at night for food and supplies. A few people who lived around the groto helped teh Families in the Groto. One night, the families almost were killed because Nazis Police had found their hiding place. But, fortunately the near by farmer's destracted th Nazis.
This is a good book for 4-12 graders. It tells the story of how some Jewish people survived the Holocaust and WWII. This book wasn't too violent for young children. This book would be good to teach children about a historical event.
February 16, 2009
The Secret of Priest’s Grotto relates the story of how several Jewish families survived the Holocaust of WWII by hiding in the caves of western Ukraine for over 300 days. The explorations of caving enthusiasts, Taylor and Nicola unravel the remarkable story of survival with contemporary and historical photographs, survivor interviews and excerpts from the unpublished memoir of matriarch Esther Stermer.
The recollection of the survivor’s harrowing experience is alternated with the present day expedition of Taylor and Nicola. Fleeing the Nazis and hostile farmers, three families are forced to take refuge in underground caves. “There’s nothing in the breadth of human experience to re-create what the survivors endured…(p. 52).” Surviving underground for longer than anyone in history is a testament to their unshakable will to live.
The interviews and photographs detail a frightening but must be told part of history. This is a great book to share with students learning about the Holocaust. Readers become invested in the people themselves, making it personal. Religious questions are also addressed as the families declare they were masters of their own fate. “…attributing their survival to a higher power takes some of the magic away from their story. It understates their resolve and the heart-pounding courage it took to fight for every day they stayed alive (p. 59).” Realizing this is only one out of six million stories creates a horrifying awareness from which hopefully we as global citizens can learn.
The recollection of the survivor’s harrowing experience is alternated with the present day expedition of Taylor and Nicola. Fleeing the Nazis and hostile farmers, three families are forced to take refuge in underground caves. “There’s nothing in the breadth of human experience to re-create what the survivors endured…(p. 52).” Surviving underground for longer than anyone in history is a testament to their unshakable will to live.
The interviews and photographs detail a frightening but must be told part of history. This is a great book to share with students learning about the Holocaust. Readers become invested in the people themselves, making it personal. Religious questions are also addressed as the families declare they were masters of their own fate. “…attributing their survival to a higher power takes some of the magic away from their story. It understates their resolve and the heart-pounding courage it took to fight for every day they stayed alive (p. 59).” Realizing this is only one out of six million stories creates a horrifying awareness from which hopefully we as global citizens can learn.
February 20, 2008
While exploring in Ukraine, caver Christos Nicola first visits Priest’s Grotto, the ninth-longest cave in the world. While researching the cave, he uncovers its fascinating history—38 people hid and survived there for almost a year during the Jewish Holocaust.
Nicola, along with photographer Peter Lane Taylor, recounts the survivors’ experiences in the children’s book The Secret of Priest’s Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story.
Their story is interspersed with the authors’ experiences working in the cave. What makes the book interesting is the survivors’ experiences—not the scientific details of Nicola and Taylor’s research in the cave.
Priest’s Grotto is similar to other children’s scientific picture books. The photographs feel stark and the content is more textbook than narrative. This scientific focus transforms a harrowing and emotional tale into a rather stark and clinical study.
Nicola and Taylor base much of the book on the memoirs of one survivor: Esther Stermer’s We Fight to Survive. This incredible story deserves a more thorough, more literary, account than Priest’s Grotto. Unfortunately, Stermer’s memoir was privately published, and I have yet to find an available copy.
Nicola, along with photographer Peter Lane Taylor, recounts the survivors’ experiences in the children’s book The Secret of Priest’s Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story.
Their story is interspersed with the authors’ experiences working in the cave. What makes the book interesting is the survivors’ experiences—not the scientific details of Nicola and Taylor’s research in the cave.
Priest’s Grotto is similar to other children’s scientific picture books. The photographs feel stark and the content is more textbook than narrative. This scientific focus transforms a harrowing and emotional tale into a rather stark and clinical study.
Nicola and Taylor base much of the book on the memoirs of one survivor: Esther Stermer’s We Fight to Survive. This incredible story deserves a more thorough, more literary, account than Priest’s Grotto. Unfortunately, Stermer’s memoir was privately published, and I have yet to find an available copy.
May 23, 2013
This book was really good. I liked how it showed how they found out about these people showing the old shoes, keys and other artifacts they found, while exploring the cave in first person. I also like how the narrator shows the people while they where hiding in the cave from the nazis. This book did change my perspective I thought a cave would be impossible for people to find them easy to survive in cause it under ground and shelter from the weather but I was wrong. During this book I found out that their supplies ran out fast and the humidity in the cave condenses making there clothing wet and at night putting them at risk of hypothermia. During the book it talked a about the getting more supplies, almost getting killed by people or sickness and it shows the grand children of these people. I really enjoyed how it described what it was like for the people hiding in the cave and kinda made me feel like I was there. I would recommend this book because most people think everyone was forced to leave, yet this book show the story of one of the few families that hid and the struggles it took to survive.
May 8, 2015
Fascinating story of how Christos Nicola, a cave explorer, heard stories of Jews hiding and surviving in the Popwa Yama cave in Ukraine during World War II. He was able to find some of the survivors and hear their story along with in 2003 making a trip to the cave to explore where he found artifacts and evidence of their amazing story. They survived underground for over a year and a half in a different cave and this one until the war was over. The book is a mixture of the survivors' first hand accounts and the discoveries made by Nicola and his team during their expedition into the cave and has many pictures as well. Some of the book also comes from We fight to survive, a book written by Esther Stermer, a deceased survivor of the cave. I would love to read that account, but unfortunately it was privately published and not available. I guess I will have to be satisfied with this account and the documentary made in 2012 called No Place on Earth.
September 30, 2008
Being somewhat claustrophobic, the idea of spending nearly a year in a dank, underground grotto in the Ukraine is unfathomable. Yet, during World War II, that is just what a small band of Eastern European Jews did to survive. To date, no other persons have come close to living underground in the conditions they did for so many continuous days, enduring sensory deprivation, near starvation, and physical and psychological discomfort.
This book details the methods by which the caves were explored and how the archeological evidence of the group's existence was discovered bit by bit during the expedition undertaken by the author to document this amazing Holocaust story.
Fortunately, several survivors were alive and willing to be interviewed for this book; their insights added a very meaningful emotional layer that enhanced my entire reading experience. Photographs from pre-war family albums are interestingly juxtaposed with current family photos serving to visually reinforce the continuity of life.
This book details the methods by which the caves were explored and how the archeological evidence of the group's existence was discovered bit by bit during the expedition undertaken by the author to document this amazing Holocaust story.
Fortunately, several survivors were alive and willing to be interviewed for this book; their insights added a very meaningful emotional layer that enhanced my entire reading experience. Photographs from pre-war family albums are interestingly juxtaposed with current family photos serving to visually reinforce the continuity of life.
November 15, 2010
Taylor's photojournalism experience is evident in this book. Taylor and Nicola present the harrowing tale of Jewish families who escape to underground caves to survive the Holocaust. Told from a journalistic perspective the book contains two stories: the first being the story of curious cave explorers; the second being the story of survival. Taylor and Nicola alternate details of their modern day cave exploration (of the sites inhabited by displaced Jewish families), with the reflections and images of those families. This technique effectively draws in the reader, attaching modern significance to harrowing tales. This book intricately weaves the two, incorporating narrative, photos, timelines, and quotes from outside sources to bring the reader into both parts. Hear how survivors spent over 300 days hiding in the underground caves, and see modern photos of artifacts and the spaces they used. Recommended.
Want to read
July 20, 20162012 documentary "No Place On Earth"
The grottos were located in the cold western Ukrainan forest. Several extended families hid in these caves for 1.5 years until the Russians drove out the Germans above ground in April 1944. Their ages span from 2 - 76 years old. This was one of the hardest documentary viewing experiences ever. Not only did the researcher find numerous survivors to retell their tales, their hardships were etched so indelibly that they, in turn, imprinted them upon us when we viewed their testimonies.
Note: the bulk of their testimonies was taken at face value by the movie maker. Besides physical evidence in the cave (stove, stone flour mill, personal effects) that prove they were once there, there was no collaboration on other parts of their story such as duration & circumstances. I thought the research was a little lax.
We fight to survive
The grottos were located in the cold western Ukrainan forest. Several extended families hid in these caves for 1.5 years until the Russians drove out the Germans above ground in April 1944. Their ages span from 2 - 76 years old. This was one of the hardest documentary viewing experiences ever. Not only did the researcher find numerous survivors to retell their tales, their hardships were etched so indelibly that they, in turn, imprinted them upon us when we viewed their testimonies.
Note: the bulk of their testimonies was taken at face value by the movie maker. Besides physical evidence in the cave (stove, stone flour mill, personal effects) that prove they were once there, there was no collaboration on other parts of their story such as duration & circumstances. I thought the research was a little lax.
We fight to survive
January 6, 2009
Words and photos describe the underground passages that Jews used in the Western Ukraine. Feeling that they had no other choice to escape from the Nazi and anti-Semetic Ukrainians, several families lived underground for almost a year, risking malnutrition and sensory deprivation for 344 days. Almost 50 years later, an American caver is interested in exploring particular caves in the Ukraine because of their unique geologic features and hears stories of a family who lived in the caves during the war. Tracking down anyone who might know more information, Christos Nicola gets in touch with the family who survived. Amazing story of survival by Jews hunted by Nazis and fellow Ukrainians. The family attributes their ability to live through the horrific ordeal by their extreme family loyalty. Fascinating story on many levels.
December 16, 2016
At a screening of the related documentary "No Place on Earth," I had the good fortune to meet the caver who stumbled across the remnants of this harrowing true story. The book adds to the story woven by his presentation and the History Channel documentary.
The volume is thin, but chock full of photos, diagrams, and information. Best of all, it tells personal stories - of the caver and his decades-long drive to uncover the startling truths, and the remarkable stories of those who lived in the caves. They survived (and lived to tell the tale) because of their resourcefulness, their loyalty to one another, and their determination not to give in to the evils which would await them above ground.
The volume is thin, but chock full of photos, diagrams, and information. Best of all, it tells personal stories - of the caver and his decades-long drive to uncover the startling truths, and the remarkable stories of those who lived in the caves. They survived (and lived to tell the tale) because of their resourcefulness, their loyalty to one another, and their determination not to give in to the evils which would await them above ground.
February 6, 2013
An interesting story of the heroic survival of a group of Jews in Western Ukraine who evaded the Nazis by living in caves for over a year. The book reads much like a National Geographic article (which makes sense because Peter Lane Taylor wrote an article for National Geographic on this topic), so probably best suited for use in upper grades due to the writing style (content is simple and clean for any grade). The story goes back and forth between the survival story and the story of the cave explorer who stumbled across the unique Holocaust story and has ventured into the historic caves. Accompanied by numerous pictures of the caves and the survivors.
July 6, 2018
This true story was an absolute surprise to read. I am grateful to the author for all of his efforts to track down this story. He heard there was a group of Jewish people who lived in underground caves during WWII but it took years to get a lead. This book is both the story of uncovering the actual event and searching the caves to find evidence of it and the account of those who lived it. There are pictures of the exploration of the caves, relics that were found, a map, family pictures, war pictures and a timeline. The book contained a lot of information and was a time laborious to get through but overall it was enlightening and I am so glad the story has been told!
March 10, 2019
Wow, Wow, Wow! This is a true story of the Stermer, Dodyk, Wexler and their extended families. Special thanks to Sol Wexler for finding Chris Nicola’s long ago listing on the internet for survivors of Caves. Without Sol - these caves and the interior may never have been discovered with true artifacts found inside, along with their names. Amazing how they survived and this was all done(sadly but necessary in order to survive). On another note, I sadly wonder if any of my ancestors went thru this and are no longer around to tell us. I hope to one day travel to Grodno in particular from where my ancestors were from to discover what I may about their history.
September 13, 2009
A survival tale that is extraordinary. Two American cavers set out to explore the famous Ukrainian gypsum caves to investigate the rumors they have heard that the caves sheltered several Jewish families during the Holocaust. They meet with members of the families and learn that more than 30 people spent 1 1/2 years deep underground. The book simultaneously tells the cavers' story of their 3-day expedition alongside the unbelievable story of what played out in 1943. One more heroic survival story to add to our collection.
October 29, 2010
I had never heard of this cave or the importance of it during World War II. Following three families that hid in the cave for almost a year as the Nazis were killing Jews, the author does a nice job of retelling their history, plus the exploration currently being done in the cave. Filled with amazing photographs and illustrations, teen/adult readers will be amazed at the courage and intelligence these people went through just to survive man's hatred. A great book to addd to your World War II collection.
June 24, 2016
My husband's family is from Korolowka and are mentioned a few times in Esther Stermer's memoir. The story of the caves has fascinated me ever since I started conducting genealogical research on his family, so I really enjoyed the pictures in this book and reading about the caves from a different perspective. It does fall short of the full story, but I don't think that's what this short book was trying to accomplish (for that you need to read Esther's book We Fight to Survive). Still very interesting and I'm glad this book is available to bring the story to a lager audience.
August 20, 2008
An incredible tale with lots of pictures (like a National Geographic article), this book uncovers a true story of survival in a cave. It is not particularly scary, but it can cause bad dreams. The family survives the Holocaust but isn't sure if God helped them or they were just strong enough on their own. I personally think that no one survived the Holocaust who wasn't of particular interest to God for one reason or another.
Read
October 23, 2009This was not one of my favorite books because it did not capture my mind that much. It was sad because real people had to go through miserable things in order to survive. All of the pictures are photographs none of them are paintings. I guess you can say those are interesting because you can see what they went through. I like the four photographs of a mug, shoe, plate and a key that they found and they dug up. I like how old they are and you can still tell what they were.
February 15, 2013
This is a very interesting book about how a group of Jews survived living in a cave, for over a year in the Ukraine. The story is told by a cave explorer who found the remnants of their time in the cave. He visits the remaining survivors and blends their stories with the story of the cave and what he discovered. There are some great pictures and quotations from the family. It is an amazing story of the human spirt, faith and hope.
February 6, 2009
What an amazing story. The book tells about a group of Jews who survived the Holocaust by living underground in caves for months longer than the official world record holder. The book is filled with pictures of the caves, the artifacts explorers found, the survivors, then and now. It's an incredible story about the human spirit.
July 26, 2010
Priest's Grotto tells the story of three Ukrainian families who hid in a caver near their village in order to survive the Holocaust. They lived underground for 344 days. The book has many pictures and information regarding the families and the caves where they were hidden for so long. A rich nonfiction resource appropriate for students in seventh grade and up.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews