Chris Nicola

Chris Nicola is a worldwide caving expedition organizer, leader, and lecturer. He is the co-author of "The Secret of Priest's Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story."

He first heard the Holocaust survival story as a rumor while he was in Ukraine decades ago. The story revolved around a group of Jews who survived the Holocaust by living in a cave for over a year. He confirmed the story by locating 14 of the original 38 cave dwellers for first-hand accounts. He co-authored a book that led to the making of a documentary about their experiences. Nicola runs the Priest’s Grotto Heritage Project; a genocide awareness project in which the grandchildren of those who lived in Priest’s Grotto Cave during the Holocaust will be working hand-in-hand with the grandchildren of those who lived above the cave in building an exhibit to honor what those courageous 38 did so long ago, and hopefully, by keeping this story alive for future generations, prevent such genocides as the Holocaust from ever happening again.

Nicola was the subject of a documentary, "No Place on Earth," which catalogues his research into the Holocaust cave story.

Nicola is a retired senior investigator for New York State. His previous positions included union organizer, police officer in Washington D.C., bar manager and bouncer, adjunct lecturer, bodyguard, undercover investigator in the NYC schools, and civilian operative for the FBI.

As a graduate of 3 state police academies and recipient of specialized training from the FBI and NYPD his law enforcement career spanned nearly 40 years. He earned a BS in criminal justice, BA in forensic psychology, BA in physics and an MA in criminology at CUNY. At CUNY Graduate Center he has completed all coursework for a PhD program in criminal justice.

In the Mid 70’s Nicola began his life as an explorer by scuba diving in the caves of central Florida, in conjunction with 10 years of ocean diving, spending many hours on the wrecks off of North Carolina.

He has led caving expeditions in the Americas, Oceana, Africa, Caribbean and Europe. His spends his retired life caving and leading caving expeditions.