Hidden

This ongoing project honors the stories of Jewish families who survived the Holocaust in hiding, and those who risked everything to protect them. Blending abstraction and representation, these works illuminate resilience, courage, and the fragile boundaries between fear and hope.

Hidden 1—Otto Wolf’s Story

Otto Wolf and his family went into hiding in the forest of a small Moravian town called Tršice in occupied Czechoslovakia. In the summer of 1942, the Wolf family was ordered to report to a nearby city for deportation, but they chose not to do so. With the help of a family friend named Slávek, who was in love with Otto’s older sister Felicitas (known as Lici), they lived in shelters built in the woods near the town. Over the next three years, the family moved from various shelters in the forest to the homes of acquaintances as each location became dangerous. Otto kept a diary throughout this period.

Hidden 2—Bielski Family

The Bielski family lived in the forests of Belarus. The Bielskis, led by brothers Tuvia, Asael, and Alexander, created a community of Jewish refugees in the woods, where they built bunkers and dugouts to hide from the Nazis. They also set up a system to provide for and protect the other Jews who joined them in hiding. The Bielskis and their community managed to survive the war and are remembered as heroes for their efforts to save Jewish lives during one of the darkest periods in history.

If you have a “Hidden” story you wish to share with me, please get in touch with me at carol@carolneiger.com