 The phenomenon of the hideaways was noticed soon after the Red Army captured Warsaw . On January 26 , 1945 , a bulletin of the Żydowska Agencja Prasowa ( Jewish News Agency ) reported that 48 individuals had emerged from hiding and referred to them as jaskiniowcy , or " cavemen " . The term " Robinsons " soon became common , a reference to the fictional castaway Robinson Crusoe in the Daniel Defoe novel . The Soviet writer and journalist , Vasily Grossman upon entering the ruined city , described finding four Jewish and six non @-@ Jewish Poles who had just left their hideouts . 
