Beneath an expanse of wheat fields within the remote farmland of Western Ukraine lies over 127,779 meters of explorable passageways, caves, an underground lake, and the secret to survival for 38 Jews who lived underground through one of history's darkest eras.
Several brave families of Ukrainian Jews lived for over a year within the surreal underground world of the Gypsum Giant cave system, struggling with sensory deprivation, isolation, the threat of starvation and a constant fear of being discovered. With the end of WWII their underground ordeal went untold for decades, with the survivors wary of exposing their hiding place for fear that a future need to retreat back into the earth would arise.
Much of the massive cave system remained unexplored until the early 1990's, when Christos Nicola and an expedition of professional cavers discovered several artifacts suggesting relatively recent human habitation. Since then, Nicola has managed to track down the remaining survivors, slowly unearthing the incredible stories of their life underground.
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