The Bielski partisans

Wolf Koladicki meets Paula and Isaac at a farm within the forest. He has joined a group of Jewish partisans formed by brothers Tuvia, Asael, Alexander (Zus), and Aharon Bielski. Under the Nazi occupation, numerous partisan groups have emerged in the forests of eastern Poland and western Belarus, mostly consisting of Soviet fighters who stay behind as the Russian army is driven east by the German military. Although some Jews fight in partisan units, many of these groups are hostile to Jews. The Bielski partisan detachment is a specifically Jewish group.

After the murder of their parents and two of their brothers by the Nazis in late 1941, the surviving Bielski brothers flee into the nearby forest. Over the next six months, they are joined by family members and friends, and by the summer of 1942, the group has about 30 members. Tuvia, the eldest brother, is designated its commander.

Under Tuvia Bielski’s leadership, the group engages in armed resistance against the Germans, but its primary objective is survival. They begin to actively recruit members, sending guides to area ghettos to encourage Jews to join the Bielski detachment. As Nazi efforts to eradicate Jewish life intensify, so does Tuvia’s insistence that the group take in and protect any and all Jews who reach their camp, regardless of age or ability. Not all members of the group are in favor of the policy, fearing that it will endanger their safety and restrict the group’s mobility and defense, but Tuvia prevails.

Following the August 1942 massacre of between 3,000-5,000 Jews from Novogrudek and nearby communities, many Jews resolve to escape from the ghettos. Those who find their way to the Bielski camp join a growing community of Jews living in the forest. By the summer of 1943, the group has some 750 members—among them approximately 200 armed fighters. By the time of their liberation by Soviet forces in July 1944, the Bielski partisans number around 1200 Jews who defend and sustain the group.