(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)April 20, 2009

MAHWAH – A joint Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance) commemoration between Beth Haverim Shir Shalom and the Gross Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies of Ramapo College was held Monday, April 20, 2009 at the temple.

Christos Nicola, a caving expert and writer, told the story of how three Ukrainian Jewish families survived the Holocaust by hiding in a cave near their village for 344 days. Nicola, along with Peter L. Taylor, is the author of The Secret of the Priest’s Grotto. A Holocaust Survival Story. He came across the cave by coincidence, began exploring it and found signs of human habitation.

Using the Internet, he located several of the survivors, now living in Canada and the United States. From them he learned how a Ukrainian peasant helped 38 people, including toddlers and a 75-year-old grandmother, found refuge from the Nazis in the cavern’s four underground rooms. One of the survivors of that extraordinary experience and son of a Beth Haverim Shir Shalom congregant, Mr. Sol Wexler, was present at the program.

The evening also included a program of chorale music performed by the choir of Beth Haverim Shir Shalom, under Cantor David Perper, and the Ramapo Chorale and CantaNOVA, under the direction of Lisa Lutter, assistant professor of music at the College.

Sol Wexler, a survivor who found refuge from the Holocaust in one of the Ukrainian caves discussed by Christos Nicola. Mr. Wexler speaking with Evelyn McGilloway, a member of the congregation’s adult choir and the daughter of a survivor from Czechoslovakia.

Caving expert Christos Nicola signing the The Priest’s Grotto. A Holocaust Survival Story.

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