“No Place on Earth” (2012)

Monday, March 19, 7:00 PM, at ASBI

83 minutes

In 1942, 38 men, women, and children slid down a cold, muddy hole in the ground, seeking refuge from the war above in a pitch-black underground world where no
human had gone before. These five Ukrainian Jewish families created their own society where young men bravely ventured into the harrowing night, to collect food and supplies, and to chop firewood. The girls and women never left, surviving underground longer than anyone in recorded history. Held together by an iron-willed matriarch, the cave dwellers, ages 2 to 76, emerged at war’s end after 511 days, in tattered clothes, blinded by a sun some children forgot existed. Despite all odds, they had survived.

The remarkable true story of "No Place on Earth" starts out as a mystery. While exploring some of the longest caves in the world in southwestern Ukraine in the 1990s, American caver Chris Nicola stumbled onto unusual objects: an antique lady’s shoe and comb, old buttons, and an old world key. Was the vague rumor true, that some Jews had hid in this cave during WWII, and, if so, had any survived to tell their tale?

67 years later, Chris leads four of the survivors back to Ukraine to say thank you to “the cave.”

Sponsored by the Israel Committee.
Pizza, pop, popcorn, and chips will be served.