Astonishing bravery of the Jewish family who escaped the Holocaust by hiding in an underground cave - for a year-and-a-half
A Jewish matriarch was so determined
to protect her family from Nazi persecution, she hid herself and them in
an underground cave until their country was liberated - eighteen months
later.
Esther Stermer lived a peaceful, rural existence in a small Ukrainian village with her six children until the Germans invaded in late 1941.
Hellbent on annihilating the Jewish people, the soldiers rounded up more than a thousand Jews and sent them to their deaths.
But Mrs Stermer and her husband Zaida were determined that their innocent family would survive, whatever it took.
So, she and five other Jewish families from the area packed up their belongings one cold October night in 1942 and fled, in the dark, to a sinkhole masking the entrance to an underground cave, five miles north of their home in Korolowka.
A new documentary, No Place On Earth, tells the story of Mrs Stermer's courage more than 70 years ago.
She and her family had already survived one year of German occupation, but knew that the shadow of death was creeping ever closer.
Her son Sam Stermer, now 86, told ABC News that the family's secret was their utter determination never to give in.
The cave they settled in was pitch black, damp, and lay beneath ground that Nazi soldiers would march over, deep in the Ukrainian countryside.
The
six families, with 38 people in total, ended up hiding there for 18
months, until it was safe to go above ground in their own land again.
During that time, the families lived in complete darkness, digging out toilets and showers and more living space as they concentrated on surviving until they could come out again.
At night they foraged for food, and in the day time they hid deep in the darkness.
Mr Stermer's older brother Saul Stermer, now 92, said: 'You went to sleep and you had a pillow and you covered up with good blankets - what else you want?'
What the family had and prized
above anything was their freedom - they had escaped the invading forces,
and they would continue to do so for more than 500 days.
During that time, Esther Stermer had to defend her family once, when German SS soldiers raided the first cave.
Coming face-to-face with the men they had lived in fear of for so long, Mrs Stermer held her ground, despite the fact they were pointing guns at her.
Sam Stermer said: 'And she says "What are you afraid of here? The Fuhrer is gonna lose the war because we live here?"'
The soldiers left, never to
return, and finally, in April 1944, the Russians liberated the area and
the hidden families were able to climb out of the cave into the light.
Last year the Stermer brothers returned to the cave for the first time, for the film. They told how after the war, they travelled to Canada and set up a business, which they still run there.
Today the survivors and offspring of those who hid in the Ukrainian caves number more than 125, and the film, which will be on limited release in the U.S. today and will be released in Germany next month, tells the story of their courage.
Their survival is the longest uninterrupted underground survival in recorded human history.
Esther Stermer lived a peaceful, rural existence in a small Ukrainian village with her six children until the Germans invaded in late 1941.
Hellbent on annihilating the Jewish people, the soldiers rounded up more than a thousand Jews and sent them to their deaths.
Several Jewish families escaped the Holocaust thanks to the courage of Esther Stermer, front row, second from left
Sam Stermer, in green, and his brother Saul Stermer, with yellow kneepads, revisted the cave nearly 70 years later
So, she and five other Jewish families from the area packed up their belongings one cold October night in 1942 and fled, in the dark, to a sinkhole masking the entrance to an underground cave, five miles north of their home in Korolowka.
A new documentary, No Place On Earth, tells the story of Mrs Stermer's courage more than 70 years ago.
She and her family had already survived one year of German occupation, but knew that the shadow of death was creeping ever closer.
Her son Sam Stermer, now 86, told ABC News that the family's secret was their utter determination never to give in.
The cave they settled in was pitch black, damp, and lay beneath ground that Nazi soldiers would march over, deep in the Ukrainian countryside.
Sam and Saul Stermer said that their underground home was 'paradise' because they were free
During that time, the families lived in complete darkness, digging out toilets and showers and more living space as they concentrated on surviving until they could come out again.
At night they foraged for food, and in the day time they hid deep in the darkness.
Mr Stermer's older brother Saul Stermer, now 92, said: 'You went to sleep and you had a pillow and you covered up with good blankets - what else you want?'
Saul Stermer, his nieces Sima and Sonia Dodyk, and his brother Sam Stermer play themselves in the documentary
During that time, Esther Stermer had to defend her family once, when German SS soldiers raided the first cave.
Coming face-to-face with the men they had lived in fear of for so long, Mrs Stermer held her ground, despite the fact they were pointing guns at her.
Sam Stermer said: 'And she says "What are you afraid of here? The Fuhrer is gonna lose the war because we live here?"'
Saul and Sam Stermer, seen here in the film, say they would not have survived without their determined mother
Last year the Stermer brothers returned to the cave for the first time, for the film. They told how after the war, they travelled to Canada and set up a business, which they still run there.
Today the survivors and offspring of those who hid in the Ukrainian caves number more than 125, and the film, which will be on limited release in the U.S. today and will be released in Germany next month, tells the story of their courage.
Their survival is the longest uninterrupted underground survival in recorded human history.