Random Stories Of People Who Hid From Nazis During World War II (12 items)

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  (#11) The Chiger Family Lived In Sewers For More Than A Year

  By 1943, the Nazis had deported the population of Lvov's ghetto to concentration camps. The Chiger family escaped this fate by hiding in a sewer. For 14 months, Jerzy and Peppa Chiger and their children, 7-year-old Krystyna and 3-year-old Pawelek, lived in filthy water, eating rats. Each day they picked lice out of their hair, and during heavy rainstorms, Jerzy and Peppa held their children above the waterline so they wouldn't drown.

  The family was shown kindness by black-marketeer Leopold Socha, who found them near his hiding place for goods. He brought the family food every day and found a Jewish prayer book for them that was left behind in the ghetto. That day, Socha brought them vodka to celebrate.
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  (#9) Jeannine Burk Stayed In An Outhouse During Nazi Parades

  After Hitler invaded Belgium in 1940, Jeannine Burk's father found different hiding places for each member of the family. The last time Jeannine saw her father was when he dropped her off at a house for hiding. Though she had free reign of the house, Jeanine had to hide in the outhouse when Nazis went on parade.

  After Belgium was liberated in 1944, Jeannine was reunited with most of her family. Her father had died at Auschwitz.
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  (#10) A Childhood Helped Hanni Levy Escape Concentration Camps

  In 1943, 19-year-old Hanni Levy mangled her finger in a machine at a factory where she was doing forced labor for the Nazis. When she returned home after a trip to the hospital, all the Jews in her neighborhood were being rounded up to be taken to concentration camps. Hanni fled and found non-Jewish friends to take her in and help her blend in as a non-Jew in Berlin. She cut her hair short, died it blond, and struck up a friendship with local movie theater employees, who helped keep her secret to the end of the war.

  After the Nazis surrendered, Hanni moved to Paris, where she met her future husband.
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  (#6) Mirjam Geismar's Parents Hid From The Nazis Behind A Church Organ

  In 1942, Nazis made Holland an increasingly dangerous place for Jews. Mirjam Geismar's family decided to go into hiding. Mirjam was sent to live with a single mother, Tante Nel, who kept many children hidden beneath the kitchen floor in a compartment accessible by trap door. Mirjam's parents hid in a church, behind the organ. They were almost caught when the Nazis raided the church. 

  The family was reunited at the end of the war. Mirjam's parents have hated organ music ever since.
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  (#12) Sima Gleichgevicht-Wasser Survived Because She Was Blonde

  In 1940, Sima Gleichgevicht-Wasser's family was forced to move to a ghetto north of Warsaw, Poland. Sima's blond hair and fair complexion allowed her to slip out of the ghetto, past Nazi guards, to purchase and smuggle in supplies. She returned one day to find the ghetto liquidated and went on the run, never seeing her family again.

  Sima was taken in by a Polish family, but fled when Germans came snooping. She took refuge with another family in Warsaw until the end of the war, when she moved to Israel and then Brooklyn.
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  (#4) The Stermer Family Hid In A Cave For More Than A Year

  When Germany invaded Ukraine in 1941, Esther Stermer's family, along with five other families, escaped Nazis by fleeing in the middle of the night to an underground cave. For 18 months, the 38 members of this group of families lived in total darkness during the day and scavenged for food at night.

  Eventually, German SS soldiers found the cave, and Esther came face-to-face with Nazis. With their guns pointed in her face, Esther said to the Germans, "What are you afraid of here? The Fuhrer is gonna lose the war because we live here?" The soldiers left and never returned. Soon after, Russians liberated the area and the families were able to leave. Their triumph was the longest uninterrupted underground survival situation in recorded history.

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