Ukrainians Discover Jews’ Hiding Place during Holocaust

Ukrainians Discover Jews’ Hiding Place during Holocaust¹

Diggers in Lviv, Ukraine, have uncovered new underground hiding places where Jews fled from Nazi² German forces during World War II.

Under Lviv's stone streets are the sewers³ where some Jews hid. Historians say the Nazis⁵ killed 100,000 Jews in Lviv at that time. That was about one-third of the city's population.

A few were able to survive, including father and daughter Ignacy and Krystyna Chiger. They escaped from the Jewish ghetto⁶ by digging an underground passageway to the city's sewers. They later wrote books about their experiences.

Historian Hanna Tychka and local diggers said they recently found the exact area where Chiger's family lived in 1943 to 1944, using the books as a guide.

Chiger dug a seven-meter-long tunnel to the sewer⁴ from his ghetto bedroom. He had to break a solid wall, which was 90 centimeters thick, Tychka said.

"They had to work quietly so that Nazis would not find out that digging activity was happening in the barrack(s) basement. The Jews used a hammer wrapped in a duster," Tychka told Reuters.

In September and October Ukraine is marking the 80th anniversary of the shooting of nearly 34,000 Jews. The shooting happened at Babyn Yar in the capital of Kyiv. It is one of the biggest killings⁷ of Jews during the Holocaust, the genocide against the Jews during World War II.

In Lyiv, Tychka and her team discovered in July a small underground area. They believe it is where Jews fleeing the ghetto would stay their first night before moving to a larger shelter in the sewers.

In the larger shelter, the team found objects they believe the hiding families used. They found an old plate, a toy sheep and pieces of light. They also discovered pieces of glass placed in between bricks in the wall, which were used to prevent rats from stealing food.

During a visit to the site, Tychka also pointed⁸ out a pipe from where she believed the families could take drinking water.

Chiger's family was part of a larger group that also included Halina Wind Preston, then in her early twenties.

Of the group of 21, only 10 including the Chigers and Halina survived, said her son David Lee Preston.

A baby was born to one of the women in the group. The baby was suffocated⁹ for fear that its crying would give away the group's hiding place, Preston said.

Preston worked as a reporter for many years in Philadelphia. He has written several reports about his mother and his father's experience as a prisoner in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald death camps.

He said many could not accept the conditions inside the sewer and left. They were always in danger of being discovered. Preston has written that two sewer workers helped his mother and her group during the time they lived in the hiding place.

They left their hiding place when the Soviet¹¹ army took Lviv back from the Nazis in July 1944.

Preston was thankful to Tychka and the team who made the discovery. He said that, as the number of Holocaust survivors¹² decrease, it is important for younger generations to tell their stories.

The work to find the group's hiding place showed "a great desire by many young Ukrainians to set straight the history and prevent it from being corrupted," Preston said.

Words in This Story

sewer — n. an underground pipe that carries away water and waste

ghetto — n. a part of a city where the poor of a particular race or ethnic¹³ group live

barracks — n. a building or buildings in which soldiers live

suffocate¹⁰ — v. to kill someone by not letting them breathe

1 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

2 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

3 sewers   

n.阴沟，污水管，下水道( sewer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sewers discharge out at sea. 下水道的污水排入海里。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Another municipal waste problem is street runoff into storm sewers. 有关都市废水的另外一个问题是进入雨水沟的街道雨水。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

4 sewer   

n.排水沟，下水道

参考例句：

• They are tearing up the street to repair a sewer. 他们正挖开马路修下水道。
• The boy kicked a stone into the sewer. 那个男孩把一石子踢进了下水道。

5 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 ghetto   

n.少数民族聚居区，贫民区

参考例句：

• Racism and crime still flourish in the ghetto.城市贫民区的种族主义和犯罪仍然十分猖獗。
• I saw that achievement as a possible pattern for the entire ghetto.我把获得的成就看作整个黑人区可以仿效的榜样。

7 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 suffocated   

（使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的过去式和过去分词 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气

参考例句：

• Many dogs have suffocated in hot cars. 许多狗在热烘烘的汽车里给闷死了。
• I nearly suffocated when the pipe of my breathing apparatus came adrift. 呼吸器上的管子脱落时，我差点给憋死。

10 suffocate   

vt.使窒息，使缺氧，阻碍；vi.窒息，窒息而亡，阻碍发展

参考例句：

• If you shut all the windows,I will suffocate.如果你把窗户全部关起来，我就会闷死。
• The stale air made us suffocate.浑浊的空气使我们感到窒息。

11 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

12 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

13 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。