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The Bielski partisans were a group of Jewish partisans who rescued Jews from extermination and fought against the Nazi German occupiers and their collaborators in the vicinity of Nowogródek (Navahrudak) and Lida in German-occupied Poland (now western Belarus).

Under their protection, 1,200 Jews survived the war, making it one of the most successful rescue missions of the Holocaust.^[1] The group spent more than two years living in the forests and were initially organized by members of the Bielski family.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Formation 1.2 Organization 1.3 Activities 1.4 Disbandment 1.5 Post-war 2 Allegations of war crimes 3 Books and film 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links

[edit] History

The Bielski family were farmers in Stankiewicze (Stankievichy) near Nowogródek (Navahrudak), an area that at the beginning of the Second World War belonged to the Second Polish Republic, but in September 1939 was seized by the Soviet Union (see: Polish September Campaign and Soviet invasion of Poland (1939)), which was then allied with Nazi Germany under the Nazi-Soviet Pact.

The Bielski family collaborated with the Soviets, which strained their relations with the local Poles, to whom the Soviet Union was an occupier.^{[citation needed]} Following the Germans' Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of Soviet Union that began on June 22, 1941, Nowogródek became a Jewish ghetto, as Nazis took over those lands and implemented their genocidal policies (see Holocaust in Poland and Holocaust in Belarus).

[edit] Formation

The four Bielski brothers, Tuvia Bielski, Alexander Bielski (1906-1995) also known as "Zus", Asael Bielski, and Aron Bielski managed to flee to the nearby forest after their parents and other family members were killed in the ghetto in December 1941. Together with 13 neighbors from the ghetto, they formed the nucleus of their partisan combat group which was formed in the spring of 1942. Originally the group consisted of around forty people but grew quickly.

The group's commander was the eldest brother Tuvia, who had served in the Polish Army from 1927 to 1929, rising to the rank of corporal. He had been interested in the Zionist youth movement. Tuvia "would rather save one old Jewish woman than kill ten German soldiers".^[2] He sent emissaries to infiltrate the ghettos in the area, recruiting new members to join the group in the Naliboki Forest. Hundreds of men, women, and children eventually found their way to the Bielski camp; at its peak 1,230 people belonged to the group, and 70% of its membership consisted of women, children, and the elderly.^[1] No one was turned away.^[1] About 150 engaged in armed operations.^[1]

[edit] Organization

The partisans lived in underground dugouts (zemlyankas) or bunkers. In addition, several utility structures were built: a kitchen, a mill, a bakery, a bathhouse, a medical clinic for sick and wounded, and a quarantine hut for those who suffered from infectious diseases such as typhus. Herds of cows supplied milk. Artisans made goods and carried out repairs, providing the combatants with logistical support that later served the Soviet partisan units in the vicinity as well. More than a hundred workers toiled in the workshops, which became famous among partisans far beyond the Bielski base: tailors patched up old clothing and stitched together new garments; shoemakers fixed old and made new footwear; leather-workers laboured on belts, bridles, and saddles. A metalworking shop established by Shmuel Oppenheim repaired damaged weapons and constructed new ones from spare parts. A tannery, constructed to produce the hide for cobblers and leather workers, became a de-facto synagogue because several tanners were devout Hasidic Jews. Carpenters, hat-makers, barbers, watchmakers served their own community and guests. The camp's many children attended class in the dugout set up as a school. The camp even had its own jail and court of law.^[3]

Some accounts note the inequality between well-off partisans and poor inhabitants of the camp, and note that on occasion, violent incidents (rapes and murders) took place between the inhabitants.^[4]

[edit] Activities

The Bielski group's partisan activities were aimed at the Nazis and their collaborators, such as Belarusian volunteer policemen or local inhabitants who had betrayed or killed Jews. They also conducted sabotage missions. The Nazi regime offered a reward of 100,000 Reichmarks for assistance in the capture of Tuvia Bielski, and in 1943, led major clearing operations against all partisan groups in the area. Some of these groups suffered major casualties, but the Bielski partisans fled safely to a more remote part of the forest, and continued to offer protection to the noncombatants among their band.

The Bielski group would raid nearby villages and forcibly seize food (much like other partisan groups in the area); on occasion peasants who refused to share their food with the partisans were the subject of violence and even murder. This caused hostility towards the partisans from peasants in the villages, though some would help the Jewish partisans.^[5][6][7]

The Bielski partisans eventually became affiliated with Soviet partisans in the vicinity of the Naliboki Forest under General Platon (Vasily Yefimovich Chernyshev). Several attempts by Soviet partisan commanders to absorb Bielski fighters into their units were resisted, such that the Jewish partisan group retained its integrity and remained under Tuvia Bielski's command. This allowed him to continue in his dedication to protect Jewish lives along with engaging in combat activity, but would also prove a problem later on.

The Bielski Jews, fighting on the Soviet side, took part in clashes between Polish and Soviet forces. Notably, they took part in a disarmament of a group of Polish partisans by the Soviets on 1 December 1943.^[8]

The Bielski partisan leaders split the group into two units, one named Ordzhonikidze, led by Zus, and the other Kalinin, commanded by Tuvia. According to partisan documentation, Bielski fighters from both units killed a total of 381 enemy fighters, sometimes during joint actions with Soviet groups.^[9] 50 members of the group were killed.^[1]

[edit] Disbandment

In the summer of 1944, when the Soviet counteroffensive began in Belarus and the area was taken over by the Soviets, the Kalinin unit, numbering 1,230 men, women and children, emerged from the forest and marched into Nowogrodek.

Despite their previous collaboration with the Soviets, relations quickly worsened.^[10] The NKVD started interrogating the Bielski brothers about the rumors of loot they had reportedly collected during the war, and about their failure to "implement socialist ideals in the camp".^[10] Asael Bielski was conscripted into the Soviet Red Army and fell in battle of Königsberg in 1945.^[10] The remaining brothers escaped Soviet-controlled lands, emigrating West.^[10] Tuvia's cousin, Yehuda, was sought by the NKVD for having been an officer in the pre-war Polish Army but managed to escape with Tuvia's help and made his way to Hungary and then to Israel.^[11]

[edit] Post-war

After the war, Tuvia Bielski returned to Poland, then emigrated to Palestine (present-day Israel) in 1945. Tuvia and Zus eventually settled in the United States. They operated a succesful trucking business.

The last living Bielski brother, Aron Bielski, emigrated to the US in 1951. He changed his name to "Aron Bell". The remainder of the Bell family now lives in upper New York state and California. Tuvia and Zus were buried in Sheepshead Bay. Aron lives in Florida. None of the Bielskis ever sought for any recognition or reward for their actions.

[edit] Allegations of war crimes

Some of the members of the Bielski partisans (but not the Bielski brothers themselves) have been accused of war crimes on the neighboring population, particularly for involvement in the 1943 Naliboki massacre of 129 people, committed by Soviet partisans.^[12] Though witnesses and some historians do place members of Bielskis' unit at the massacre, former members of the brigade and other historians dispute this^[13], asserting that the partisans did not arrive in the area until several months after the event took place.^[14] The Polish Institute of National Remembrance has been investigating the massacre since the early 2000s. As of April 2009, it has not issued official findings,^[12][15] however, some of the historians working at the Institute have written in other publications that the Bielski brothers were not involved in the massacre.^[13] The Polish Institute of National Remembrance has been investigating the massacre since the early 2000s.

[edit] Books and film

Two English language books have focused on the Bielski story: Defiance (1993) by Nechama Tec and The Bielski Brothers (2004) by Peter Duffy. The group is also mentioned in numerous books about this period in history. A new book (January 2009) in Polish language by two reporters from Gazeta Wyborcza: "Odwet: Prawdziwa historia braci Bielskich" (Revenge: The True Story of the Bielski Brothers) focuses on the larger political and historical context in which the partisans operated, specifically the fighting between Polish and Soviet resistance groups in the Kresy (former Eastern Poland) region.

In 2006, the History Channel aired a documentary entitled The Bielski Brothers: Jerusalem In The Woods, written and directed by filmmaker Dean Ward.

The BBC series Ray Mears's Extreme Survival featured an episode about the Bielski partisans.

The feature film Defiance, co-written, produced and directed by Edward Zwick, was released nationwide on January 16, 2009. It stars Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell and George MacKay as Tuvia, Zus, Asael, and Aron Bielsky respectively. It opened to mixed reviews^[16] and some controversy.^[17] The brothers also published a book in Israel.

[edit] See also

• Abba Kovner
• Haganah
• Palmach
• Nakam
• Schindler's List

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Alperowitz, Yitzchak. "Tuvia Bielski", in Encyclopaedia of the Holocaust vol. 1, p. 215–16. Illustrations.
• Arad, Yitzhak. "Family Camps in the Forest", in Encyclopaedia of the Holocaust vol. 2, p. 467–469. Illustrations, map.
• Smith, Lyn. Remembering: Voices of the Holocaust. Ebury Press, Great Britain, 2005, Carroll & Graf Publishers, New York, 2006. ISBN 0-78671-640-1.
• Announcement of the start of the IPN investigation (unofficial English-language translation).
• Review of "Sowjetische Partisanen in Weißrußland", by Marek Jan Chodakiewicz, in Sarmatian Review, April 2006.

[edit] Further reading

• Duffy, Peter, The Bielski Brothers. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. ISBN 0-06-621074-7.
• Eckman, Lester and Lazar, Chaim, The Jewish Resistance: The History of the Jewish Partisans in Lithuania and White Russia During the Nazi Occupation 1940–1945. Shengold Publishers, 1977. ISBN 0884000508.
• Levine, Allan, Fugitives of the Forest: The Heroic Story of Jewish Resistance and Survival During the Second World War. Stoddart, 1998. Reissued with a new introduction by The Lyons Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1-59921-496-2.
• Nechama Tec, Defiance: The Bielski Partisans. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. ISBN 0-19-509390-9.

[edit] External links

• Bielski partisans on National Public Radio
• The Bielski PartisansHolocaust Encyclopedia United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Jewish partisans directory (searchable) (partisans.org.il)
• Tuvia Bielski, Commander of a Jewish Partisan Unit in Belarus, Novogrudok, Poland Film and Photo Archive, Yad Vashem
• Naliboki, Poland, May 1944, Jews in the Tuvia Bielski Partisan Family Camp in the Naliboki Forest Film and Photo Archive, Yad Vashem
• Bielski partisans in the Naliboki forest Simon Wiesenthal Center Photo album
• The Stories of Those Rescued by the Bielski Partisans from Lida Lida Memorial Society Homepage First and Second Hand Accounts

v • d • e Bielski partisans Tuvia Bielski (1906–1987)  • Alexander Zeisal Bielski (1912-1995)  • Asael Bielski (1908-1945)  • Aron Bielski (1927- )