Taylor, Peter Lane with Christos Nicola. The Secret of Priest’s Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story. Kar-Ben Publishing, 2007. 64 p. $8.95. ISBN 1-58013-261-8 Pbk.

         Two authors, a cave expert and a photographer, tell this almost unbelievable story of how thirty-eight Jews from a village in the Ukraine survived the Holocaust. They clung tenaciously to life in two different caves for over one year, and somehow managed to come out of the experience physically, mentally, and emotionally intact. We feel admiration and empathy for these determined people who risked everything in order to stay together.

The story of the caves is interwoven with the story of these people’s survival. The authors conducted extensive interviews and consulted the memoir, We Fight to Survive, written in 1960 by Esther Stermer, the matriarch of one of the families. This book reads like an adventure story with a suspense-filled plot and fascinating characters. However, this is brutal fact, not artificial fiction.

Generous margins, gorgeous photos of the people and places involved, accurate maps and fascinating sidebars make for a handsome book. The only elements lacking are an index and bibliography.

One of the survivors, Shulim Stermer, states: “Everyone has it inside of them to survive.” Peter Taylor wondered if he would be capable of the same will to fight for his own family’s survival. The Secret of Priest’s Grotto brings us face to face with this difficult question. Highly recommended.

Ages 10-14

© Anne Dublin.

Originally published in Jewish Book World, Summer 2007.

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