Jewish partisans
In Eastern Europe during WWII partisan bands fought the Germans behind enemy lines. Among these were several all-Jewish partisan groups, the largest of which was reputedly that of the Bielski brothers, that was active in the forests of Byelorussia during 1941-44. Their story is told in a book entitled "The Bielski Brothers: the true story of three men who defied the Nazis, built a village in the forest and saved 1,200 Jews," by Peter Duffy, published in 2003.
The three Bielski brothers started to organize armed resistance against the German invaders when their parents and two younger brothers were murdered and they realized that the Nazis planned to kill all the Jews. They had grown up in the area around the village of Stankewich near the town of Novogrudek in northwestern Byelorussia. Their father owned the largest mill in the area, and the brothers knew and were well-known to all the local population. Two things disinguished the brothers, they would take no anti-Semitic slurs from anyone and they were known to have a violent streak. Of the brothers, Tuvia the oldest, was the most impressive, he was tall and handsome and moved with ease in the world. Asael and Zus were more earthy and confrontational and stayed at home running the mill.
When the Germans invaded Byelorussia (now Belarus) Tuvia was working in the nearby town of Lida. He placed his wife and child in the home of a non-Jew he trusted, and went to see what was happening at the mill, only to find that his parents had been taken and his brothers later arrested in town. This was the first stage of the German onslaught against the Jews.
The next stage was the Einsatzcommando, or mobile Special Commandos, whose job it was to go from place to place and kill as many Jews as possible (since this was not efficient enough, the third stage was the extermination camps). The new German civil authority established Ghettos in Novogrudek and Lida and forced as many Jews into them as possible. Then with local troops and the Einsatzcommandos, they removed all the Jews who could not work and took them to pre-prepared graves in the forest and shot them all to death, including children. In this way some 3,500 Jews were murdered in Lida and 5,000 in Novogrudek. Tuvia Bielski's wife and child were among those murdered. The Bielski brothers knew about these events from their contacts in the Byelorussian community and from a few Jewish escapees, some of whom went to their mill to seek protection.
In order to survive the three brothers decided to move into the nearby forest and establish a base there. They recruited several young Jewish men and at first started with about 18 fighters and some 20 non-combatants. Since they knew the area and the forests very well they moved around fairly freely and used a mixture of persuasion and threats to get food and support from the peasants.
Some of the peasants were supportive, such as Konstantin Koslovsky who lived close to the forest and assisted Jews who came to him to make contact with the Bielskis. His younger brother worked with the Byelorussian police and passed on information to the Bielskis through his brother, until he was caught and tortured to death. Koslovsky was later awarded a "righteous gentile" award by Yad Vashem.
Other peasants collaborated with the German occupiers, in one incident 10 Bielski fighters slept in the barn of a supposedly friendly peasant. His son was sent to warn the police and a detachment of Germans returned with a force of police and surrounded the barn and killed all of them. In order to maintain his credibility, Tuvia Bielski returned with 70 armed mounted fighters, killed the whole family and burned all their property down. In this way he let it be known that the Jewish fighters would not tolerate betrayal.
The question is, how did they get enough food and guns and ammunition for their fight? The answer is that one of the prime responsibilities of the fighters was to go out foraging to collect by persuasion and force the necessary amount of food they needed for their band. In order to get guns they first relied on buying from locals and stealing from the Germans, but this was clearly insufficient, so they were eventually forced to make contact with the local Soviet partisan groups. They agreed to give them guns in exchange for food and other goods, but eventually this required the Bielskis to formally join the Soviet partisan military structure and show their commitment to Stalin and his policies. They also had to engage in a specific amount of sabotage and armed action against the German occupiers and their collaborators. During the course of the war they killed some 40 Germans and numerous other collaborators.
Bielski, as commander, adopted one unusual policy, that he would take in any Jews, old or lame, in order to ensure Jewish survival. This was contrary to Soviet policy that allowed only fighters, but he managed to persuade his superiors that he was saving "Soviet citizens." Also, while the Bielskis were formally part of the partisan structure, there were many Russian groups that were overtly hostile to a Jewish partisan force, and there were often clashes between them.
Bielski had five enemies to contend with, 1. the Germans, 2. collaborators among the Byelorussian peasants, 3. the Polish free army that killed Jews as happily as Germans, 4. anti-Semitic Russian partisans, and 5. Jews within his own band that were either committed communists or criminals out to steal. He managed by a mixture of ruthlessness and charm to gradually build up his band first to ca. 800 Jews and then eventually to ca. 1,200, the largest such group known. At first they established several dugout settlements in the nearby forests. But, when these became known they gradually moved deeper into the forest. When the Germans mounted a large-scale assault against the partisans in the forests of Byelorussia in 1943, they were forced to move thru the swamps into the deepest forests. Once this assault was over they were able to establish a Jewish shtetl called "Jerusalem" in the middle of the deep forest in the middle of Nazi-occupied Europe.
Only with the defeat of the German forces on the Eastern front in late 1944, and the arrival of the Red Army did the need for the Bielski Jewish partisan band cease, and the village was disbanded.
Later, fearing arrest by the Soviets for his many failures to follow strict military protocols, such as allowing religious Jews to establish a synagogue in the camp and punishing Russian partisans who were anti-Semitic, Tuvia and his brothers fled separately to Western Germany with their new wives and thence to Israel. But, things did not work out there for the two older brothers and they moved on to the USA where they ended up as taxi drivers and truckers in NY. Quite a come-down for two men who had held the fate of thousands in their hands. But, finally they were awarded medals posthumously by the Israeli Govt.
The three Bielski brothers started to organize armed resistance against the German invaders when their parents and two younger brothers were murdered and they realized that the Nazis planned to kill all the Jews. They had grown up in the area around the village of Stankewich near the town of Novogrudek in northwestern Byelorussia. Their father owned the largest mill in the area, and the brothers knew and were well-known to all the local population. Two things disinguished the brothers, they would take no anti-Semitic slurs from anyone and they were known to have a violent streak. Of the brothers, Tuvia the oldest, was the most impressive, he was tall and handsome and moved with ease in the world. Asael and Zus were more earthy and confrontational and stayed at home running the mill.
When the Germans invaded Byelorussia (now Belarus) Tuvia was working in the nearby town of Lida. He placed his wife and child in the home of a non-Jew he trusted, and went to see what was happening at the mill, only to find that his parents had been taken and his brothers later arrested in town. This was the first stage of the German onslaught against the Jews.
The next stage was the Einsatzcommando, or mobile Special Commandos, whose job it was to go from place to place and kill as many Jews as possible (since this was not efficient enough, the third stage was the extermination camps). The new German civil authority established Ghettos in Novogrudek and Lida and forced as many Jews into them as possible. Then with local troops and the Einsatzcommandos, they removed all the Jews who could not work and took them to pre-prepared graves in the forest and shot them all to death, including children. In this way some 3,500 Jews were murdered in Lida and 5,000 in Novogrudek. Tuvia Bielski's wife and child were among those murdered. The Bielski brothers knew about these events from their contacts in the Byelorussian community and from a few Jewish escapees, some of whom went to their mill to seek protection.
In order to survive the three brothers decided to move into the nearby forest and establish a base there. They recruited several young Jewish men and at first started with about 18 fighters and some 20 non-combatants. Since they knew the area and the forests very well they moved around fairly freely and used a mixture of persuasion and threats to get food and support from the peasants.
Some of the peasants were supportive, such as Konstantin Koslovsky who lived close to the forest and assisted Jews who came to him to make contact with the Bielskis. His younger brother worked with the Byelorussian police and passed on information to the Bielskis through his brother, until he was caught and tortured to death. Koslovsky was later awarded a "righteous gentile" award by Yad Vashem.
Other peasants collaborated with the German occupiers, in one incident 10 Bielski fighters slept in the barn of a supposedly friendly peasant. His son was sent to warn the police and a detachment of Germans returned with a force of police and surrounded the barn and killed all of them. In order to maintain his credibility, Tuvia Bielski returned with 70 armed mounted fighters, killed the whole family and burned all their property down. In this way he let it be known that the Jewish fighters would not tolerate betrayal.
The question is, how did they get enough food and guns and ammunition for their fight? The answer is that one of the prime responsibilities of the fighters was to go out foraging to collect by persuasion and force the necessary amount of food they needed for their band. In order to get guns they first relied on buying from locals and stealing from the Germans, but this was clearly insufficient, so they were eventually forced to make contact with the local Soviet partisan groups. They agreed to give them guns in exchange for food and other goods, but eventually this required the Bielskis to formally join the Soviet partisan military structure and show their commitment to Stalin and his policies. They also had to engage in a specific amount of sabotage and armed action against the German occupiers and their collaborators. During the course of the war they killed some 40 Germans and numerous other collaborators.
Bielski, as commander, adopted one unusual policy, that he would take in any Jews, old or lame, in order to ensure Jewish survival. This was contrary to Soviet policy that allowed only fighters, but he managed to persuade his superiors that he was saving "Soviet citizens." Also, while the Bielskis were formally part of the partisan structure, there were many Russian groups that were overtly hostile to a Jewish partisan force, and there were often clashes between them.
Bielski had five enemies to contend with, 1. the Germans, 2. collaborators among the Byelorussian peasants, 3. the Polish free army that killed Jews as happily as Germans, 4. anti-Semitic Russian partisans, and 5. Jews within his own band that were either committed communists or criminals out to steal. He managed by a mixture of ruthlessness and charm to gradually build up his band first to ca. 800 Jews and then eventually to ca. 1,200, the largest such group known. At first they established several dugout settlements in the nearby forests. But, when these became known they gradually moved deeper into the forest. When the Germans mounted a large-scale assault against the partisans in the forests of Byelorussia in 1943, they were forced to move thru the swamps into the deepest forests. Once this assault was over they were able to establish a Jewish shtetl called "Jerusalem" in the middle of the deep forest in the middle of Nazi-occupied Europe.
Only with the defeat of the German forces on the Eastern front in late 1944, and the arrival of the Red Army did the need for the Bielski Jewish partisan band cease, and the village was disbanded.
Later, fearing arrest by the Soviets for his many failures to follow strict military protocols, such as allowing religious Jews to establish a synagogue in the camp and punishing Russian partisans who were anti-Semitic, Tuvia and his brothers fled separately to Western Germany with their new wives and thence to Israel. But, things did not work out there for the two older brothers and they moved on to the USA where they ended up as taxi drivers and truckers in NY. Quite a come-down for two men who had held the fate of thousands in their hands. But, finally they were awarded medals posthumously by the Israeli Govt.
posted by Jack Cohen at 6:54 PM
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