Bielski partisans

Jewish partisan group formed by the brothers Tuvia, Asael, and Alexander (Zus)Bielski after the murder of their parents and two brothers by Nazi forces in late 1941, following the German occupation of their Polish village Stankiewicze. Operating in the Naliboki Forest in what is today Belarus, the group eventually comprised more than 1,200 Jews--including women, children, and elderly persons--who survived the war under the protection of the Bielski partisans.

Under the leadership of Tuvia Bielski, the group saw its mission in rescuing as many Jewish lives as possible from the Nazis. Growing quickly from initially c. 30 to over three hundred people by the end of 1942, the group welcomed any Jews who found their way to the Bielski camp in the forest, regardless of their age or ability. Asael Bielski was Tuvia's second in command, while Alexander "Zus" Bielski led reconnaissance for the group.

Between 1942 and 1944, the Bielski partisans undertook armed resistance against Germans and local collaborators, and also maintained contact with Jews in the ghettos of nearby Lida, Novogrudek, Minsk and Baranowicze.

The Bielski partisans were liberated by the advancing Soviet army in July 1944. Asael Bielski became a soldier and was killed in battle against Nazi Germany in 1945. Tuvia and Zus Bielski immigrated to Mandate Palestine after the war, and later settled in the United States.