An American audience first heard a survivor speak of the Lvov sewer episode on October 25 , 1949 , when Halina Wind , now a 27-year-old senior in the seminary 's teachers institute , addressed the annual conference of the National Women 's League of the United Synagogue of America , meeting in New York City . David Preston 's mother and nine others survived the Holocaust hiding in sewers for 14 months . Nazis Catholic sewer workers saved their lives , and his mother wanted to keep faith with them . David Preston 's was the force behind a garden memorial to honor `` Choosing to Act : Stories of Rescue '' Catholic wanted no Jew to survive , so every act of rescue and survival is sacred .
David Preston 's mother and nine others survived the Holocaust hiding in sewers for 14 months . Nazis Catholic sewer workers saved their lives , and his mother wanted to keep faith with them . David Preston 's was the force behind a garden memorial to honor `` Choosing to Act : Stories of Rescue '' Catholic wanted no Jew to survive , so every act of rescue and survival is sacred .