083: Beneath the Lightless Sky: Surviving the Holocaust in the Sewers of Lvov: A Conversation With Doron Keren About His Families Story of Survival

Hello! In this weeks episode I am joined by Doron Keren to speak about his grandfather Ignacy Chiger's book Beneath the Lightless sky Surviving the Holocaust in the Sewers of Lvov, a survival story of a family of four who sought shelter in the sewers during the nazi occupation of poland. I do want to let you know that some of the topics discussed may be uncomfortable for some listeners. Within this episode we discuss murder, torture, and death including that of an infant.

Unearthed and shepherded to publication by Doron himself, Beneath the Lightless Sky is a rare and devastating firsthand account of Jewish survival under two successive totalitarian regimes, Soviet occupation followed by Nazi extermination. Before descending into the sewers with children, including Doron’s mother, the Chiger family endured Soviet surveillance, dispossession, deportations, and psychological terror. Under the Nazis, survival narrowed to a single impossible choice, disappear underground or die.

As a second-generation Holocaust survivor, a 2G, Doron speaks not only as the keeper of his family’s history, but as a living bridge between survivor testimony and the present moment when questions of authoritarianism, moral courage, and historical memory feel newly urgent.

You can find the book here: https://bookshop.org/beta-search?keywords=beneath+teh+lightless+sky

You can find Doron here: @beneaththelightlesssky on instagram

If you would like to send me any questions, comments, or ideas for future podcast episodes please email me at itsahistorypodcast@gmail.com.

You can also find me on Instagram and Threads @itsahistorypodcast

Thank you for listening!