Priest's Grotto
Encyclopedia
Priest's Grotto is a cave
in western Ukraine
near the village of Strilkivtsi , located within the Borshchiv
Raion (District)
of the Ternopil
Oblast (Province)
.
Priest's Grotto is part of the extensive gypsum giant cave system, and is one of the longest caves in the world with over 124 kilometres (77.1 mi) of explored passages. It is about 450 kilometres (279.6 mi) driving distance southwest of Kiev
, and about 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) south of the district seat of Borshchiv.
, several Jewish families lived in this and the nearby Verteba Cave (located 8 kilometers, or 5 miles, to the west in the town of Bilche Zolote). Some of these people never left the cave for 344 days, making this the longest recorded instance of uninterrupted cave habitation known. Although some of the Jews hiding in these caves were caught and exterminated by the Nazis, thirty-eight of them managed to survive the Holocaust of Ukrainian Jews until the area was liberated by the Red Army
in April 1944.
These people would have almost certainly not survived, had they not sought shelter in these caves, since 95% of the Jews in Ukraine were exterminated. Moreover, this group included two families, which made their survival all the more remarkable, since only 1% of Ukrainian Jewish families survived the Holocaust intact. At first they hid in the Verteba Cave, however after the Germans discovered their presence there, they moved to the relatively unknown Priest's Grotto cave, where they managed to survive for the rest of the German occupation of the region. Some of the local Ukrainians helped the Jews by selling them food, but others came close to bringing down their destruction, at one point even attempting an armed assault against the Jewish men who were trying to haul sacks of grain into the entrance of the cave in the middle of the night.
The people in the cave could not afford to illuminate the darkness, but had to conserve candles and fuel. This meant that they only lit candles for a few minutes, several times a day, in order to prepare meals. All other times were spent in complete and total darkness. One of the survivors, Pepkala Blitzer, a four-year-old girl when she and her family sought shelter in the caves from the Nazis, later recalled how she had completely forgotten about the sun or daylight. Eventually, one day in early April of 1944, one of the Jewish men found a bottle lying on the floor beneath the entrance to the cave. Inside was a message from a friendly Ukrainian farmer, which read: "The Germans have already gone." A few days later, the entire group of Jews hiding in the cave (numbering 38 people) finally left their refuge. Standing in the bright sunshine, Pepkala asked her mother to put out the bright candle, because it hurt her eyes too much. She was referring to the sun, which she could not remember having seen.
named Christos Nicola was exploring caves in this region when he discovered evidence that people had sought refuge in the Verteba cave during World War II. He inquired about this with local residents, which led him to explore the Priest's Grotto cave, where he found further evidence of the Jews having lived there.
Returning home to Queens, New York, Nicola then spent 10 years searching for information about this story, until he was able to locate a survivor who lived just a few miles from him in Queens. This led him to meeting with many of the remaining Jewish survivors, and he recorded their experiences.
National Geographic staff writer and photographer Peter Lane Taylor, who co-authored "The secret of Priest's Grotto" with Nicola, recently created a production company named Frontier Media Ventures, and is busy working on an upcoming documentary, exhibit, and feature motion picture film about Nicola and the Priest's Grotto Jews.
Cave
A cave or cavern is a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. The term applies to natural cavities some part of which is in total darkness. The word cave also includes smaller spaces like rock shelters, sea caves, and grottos.Speleology is the science of exploration and study...
in western Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
near the village of Strilkivtsi , located within the Borshchiv
Borshchiv Raion
Borshchiv raion is a raion Borshchiv raion is a raion Borshchiv raion is a raion (a district within Ternopil Oblast (province) in western Ukraine, an area known as Galicia. The administrative center of the raion is Borshchiv.-Demographics:The district's population is 75,358...
Raion (District)
Raion
A raion is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet countries. The term, which is from French rayon 'honeycomb, department,' describes both a type of a subnational entity and a division of a city, and is commonly translated in English as "district"...
of the Ternopil
Ternopil Oblast
Ternopil Oblast is an oblast' of Ukraine. Its administrative center is Ternopil, through which flows the Seret River, a tributary of the Dnister.-Geography:...
Oblast (Province)
Oblast
Oblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic countries, including some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"...
.
Priest's Grotto is part of the extensive gypsum giant cave system, and is one of the longest caves in the world with over 124 kilometres (77.1 mi) of explored passages. It is about 450 kilometres (279.6 mi) driving distance southwest of Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, and about 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) south of the district seat of Borshchiv.
Holocaust refuge
In 1942–1944, during the Nazi occupationOperation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
, several Jewish families lived in this and the nearby Verteba Cave (located 8 kilometers, or 5 miles, to the west in the town of Bilche Zolote). Some of these people never left the cave for 344 days, making this the longest recorded instance of uninterrupted cave habitation known. Although some of the Jews hiding in these caves were caught and exterminated by the Nazis, thirty-eight of them managed to survive the Holocaust of Ukrainian Jews until the area was liberated by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
in April 1944.
These people would have almost certainly not survived, had they not sought shelter in these caves, since 95% of the Jews in Ukraine were exterminated. Moreover, this group included two families, which made their survival all the more remarkable, since only 1% of Ukrainian Jewish families survived the Holocaust intact. At first they hid in the Verteba Cave, however after the Germans discovered their presence there, they moved to the relatively unknown Priest's Grotto cave, where they managed to survive for the rest of the German occupation of the region. Some of the local Ukrainians helped the Jews by selling them food, but others came close to bringing down their destruction, at one point even attempting an armed assault against the Jewish men who were trying to haul sacks of grain into the entrance of the cave in the middle of the night.
The people in the cave could not afford to illuminate the darkness, but had to conserve candles and fuel. This meant that they only lit candles for a few minutes, several times a day, in order to prepare meals. All other times were spent in complete and total darkness. One of the survivors, Pepkala Blitzer, a four-year-old girl when she and her family sought shelter in the caves from the Nazis, later recalled how she had completely forgotten about the sun or daylight. Eventually, one day in early April of 1944, one of the Jewish men found a bottle lying on the floor beneath the entrance to the cave. Inside was a message from a friendly Ukrainian farmer, which read: "The Germans have already gone." A few days later, the entire group of Jews hiding in the cave (numbering 38 people) finally left their refuge. Standing in the bright sunshine, Pepkala asked her mother to put out the bright candle, because it hurt her eyes too much. She was referring to the sun, which she could not remember having seen.
Survivors
Most of the survivors from Priest's Grotto immigrated to North America, where their descendants still live. However, their fascinating story remained relatively unknown until a series of fortunate circumstances occurred. In 1993 a young American spelunkerSpelunker
Spelunker has several meanings.* In Caving, "spelunker" is sometimes a term for a person who explores caves.* Spelunker , a 1983 video game for various systems, including Atari and Nintendo....
named Christos Nicola was exploring caves in this region when he discovered evidence that people had sought refuge in the Verteba cave during World War II. He inquired about this with local residents, which led him to explore the Priest's Grotto cave, where he found further evidence of the Jews having lived there.
Returning home to Queens, New York, Nicola then spent 10 years searching for information about this story, until he was able to locate a survivor who lived just a few miles from him in Queens. This led him to meeting with many of the remaining Jewish survivors, and he recorded their experiences.
Documentary
The fascinating story of his discovery and search, as well as that of the survivors who lived in these caves, was featured in the June/July 2004 issue of the National Geographic Adventure Magazine, as well as numerous other journal articles, and an award-winning book published in 2007 that Nicola helped to write, targeted for a young adult audience.National Geographic staff writer and photographer Peter Lane Taylor, who co-authored "The secret of Priest's Grotto" with Nicola, recently created a production company named Frontier Media Ventures, and is busy working on an upcoming documentary, exhibit, and feature motion picture film about Nicola and the Priest's Grotto Jews.
External links
- The Darkest Days - National Geographic article
- Ukrainian American Youth Caver Exchange Foundation coverage
- Holocaust Ukraine: Off the face of the earth it was the only refuge they had left from ArtUkraine.com
- The Secret of Priest's Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story - Kar-Ben PublishingKar-Ben PublishingKar-Ben Publishing, an award-winning children’s book publisher providing a growing Jewish library for children, is a division of Minneapolis-based Lerner Publishing Group....
- NBC Today Show Video
- Off the Face of the Earth Story of the Jewish families who survived the war in Priest's Grotto
- Christos Nicola's Home Page - includes biographical information about Christos Nicola, and links to videos and information about the story of the survivors who hid in these caves during the Holocaust.