BOOK

The Bielski Brothers:  The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis,

Saved 1,200 Jews, and Built a Village In the Forest

 

Duffy, Peter.  The Bielski Brothers:  The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Saved 1,200 Jews, and Built a Village In the Forest.  New York:  HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 2003.  302 Pages.  ISBN: 0066210747.

 

REVIEW

 

I’d like to first of all state that anyone can love this book, whether a student or teacher of the Holocaust or not.  Peter Duffy’s Bielski Brothers reads as much like an Edgar Rice Burroughs adventure novel as it does a biographical history.  Written in the tradition of the great pulps of the 1930’s and ‘40’s, Duffy’s style seems to leave the reader with a cliffhanger at the conclusion of each chapter.  As the reader becomes increasingly concerned about the plight of the brothers and their charges, and as Duffy develops the personalities of each of these men, the reader is carried along with a concern for and a need-to-know hunger for their next exploit.  This is true-to-life adventure based within actual dramatic historical events.

 

From the dust jacket of the hardcover edition (2003):

 

In 1941, three young men – brothers, sons of a miller – witnessed their parents and two other siblings being led away to their eventual murders.  It was a grim scene that would of course, be repeated endlessly throughout the war.  What makes this particular story of interest is how the survivors responded.  Instead of running or capitulating or giving in to despair, these brothers – Tuvia, Zus, and Asael Bielski – did something else entirely.  They fought back, waging a guerrilla war of wits and cunning against both the Nazis and the pro-Nazi sympathizers.  Along the way they saved well over a thousand Jewish lives.

 

First-time author Peter Duffy writes an exhaustively researched history of the Bielski brothers and those they rescued, and does so in a very approachable style.  Having interviewed several survivors of the ordeals of the Bielski forest dwellers, as well as their descendants and others known to the clandestine group, he is able to give the reader the facts of the group’s existence along with believable dialogue.  It is this compelling dialogue which gives the book its pulp-adventure feel.  While one might quibble with the pseudo-realism of the quotes (after all, how could even someone who was there remember what was said in a given situation after some 50 years?), it is what will make this tome come alive for your students.  Even the serious history student can get bogged down in endless dates and facts; Duffy gives us all that but adds stimulating human interest that defies boredom.  Students who don’t like to read history will like this book.

 

For the social science teacher, many lesson opportunities can be found here.  Certainly the group dynamics of living with strangers in the middle of a forest while being hunted by an incredibly hostile enemy, as well as the elements of antisemitic discrimination the brothers faced provide fodder for the sociology instructor.  Psychology teachers can help students evaluate the disparate personalities of the brothers, and the ways they reacted to different stimuli.  Geography teachers can obtain detailed maps of Byelorussia from the period and assist students in tracking the movements of the group, as well as pinpointing other locales cited.

 

From the Bielski family’s traditional existence as millers living in the countryside, to the occasional flare-ups of antisemitism, Duffy walks his readers along the path toward salvation from the Nazi-created hell that was eastern Europe in the 1940’s.  Fighting, stealing, smuggling, lying, murdering, sabotaging – all were necessary for the brothers and their fellows to survive.  Through all of this there is loss – of family, or property.  And when it is all done, Duffy shows us the results as these men and those they saved attempted to begin life anew.  Revered as heroes six decades after their great deeds, they certainly did not die as heroes should – honored, remembered.  Although living their post-Holocaust lives in obscurity, Duffy introduces us to men who saved as many lives as the much better known Oskar Schindler.

 

PASSAGE/QUOTE FOR CLASSROOM USAGE

 

*Please see below for an activity that will allow you to discuss passages from this book in the context of Jewish and/or partisan resistance.  If you are doing a discussion on rescue, this material would also be appropriate.

 

Chapter Two, June 1941-December 1941, has important details to support the harrowing plight of the Jews in western Russia.  Read aloud to the students the first part of the chapter, pages 26-32.  In this excerpt, students will learn a little about the Bielskis and how they responded to the blitzkrieg of the Germans as the war machine marched to the east.  They will see the confusion and destruction, the uncertainty as to the fate of loved ones and property, and the seeds of resistance planted.  They will learn of the fire within the hearts of the Bielskis, and how Jews in general were caught in the middle of hatred – from all sides, German, Polish, and White Russian.

 

I would also add the very beginning of Chapter Three, December 1941-June 1942 (pages 55-57), that details the beginning of Operation Barbarosa and the einsatzgruppen actions that came with it.

 

After discussing that material and comparing the reading with the list of “What We Know About the Nazis”, move into the next excerpt, which is about the Bielskis forming their resistance ideas.  See Chapter Four, June 1942-October 1942, which explains how the Bielskis and their allies first came to form the forest community and began to save more and more Jews, as well as to sabotage Nazi operations.  By reading this (and you may choose another format besides simply reading aloud – the chapter runs from pages 77-105), students will see all that was necessary for the brothers to establish their forest society, which would continue to grow and become the stuff of legend.  As, or after, students have been exposed to this material, compare what they’ve covered with the lists they generated, “What We Would Need to Resist” (see the activity below).  Revise this list as necessary, as students suggest.

 

RATIONALE FOR USAGE/UNIT RELEVANCE

 

The Bielski Brothers is perhaps most useful in a discussion on resistance to the Nazis.  It will work equally well if you are discussing rescue.  It could be tied into survivor testimony, but really works better in the former context, as there are books that might be more appropriate if one would choose to discuss survivors.  A teacher could also use the first chapter, From the Tsar to the Fuhrer, in a discussion of life in western Russia between the world wars.

 

CLASSROOM METHOD OF USAGE

 

This material would be an effective support for your discussion on Jewish resistance, after having students first get into groups for a brainstorming session.  Get them thinking about resistance.  You might start with the following thoughts, written on the chalkboard or an overhead transparency:

 

Why didn’t the Jews resist more?

 

In the face of all the Jews were against, how could so many Jews find the strength TO resist? – Elie Wiesel

 

After giving them a few moments to ponder those statements, and asking for any questions or clarifications, each group could form and should elect a spokesperson to detail the group’s work/findings to the rest of the class.  Upon completion of the student discussion on resistance, the teacher could then offer some of the stories from within the text of The Bielski Brothers to support the work of the students.  Please see below for a suggestion at guiding your students toward understanding of this text.

 

STUDY QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION GUIDE

 

Assemble students in groups – these may be chosen by the teacher or quickly put together by students themselves.  Each group should elect a recorder as well as a spokesperson who will address the rest of the class.  After groupwork is completed, the teacher or a representative from each group should compile oral information on the chalkboard or on an overhead transparency.  Estimated time for completion of the groupwork might be around 10-15 minutes of brainstorming, and another 10-15 minutes for compilation of all groups’ work.

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Problem:  You have a few acquaintances who are of the mindset to resist the Nazis.  People in your community (in the western parts of the Soviet Union) have heard rumors that deportations and/or mass killings of Jews are taking place, and although the Germans and their collaborators are saying publicly that people are being moved to ghettos to better aid the Reich’s war effort by supplying labor, you and your friends do not believe this.  You begin to plan your resistance.

 

What obstacles will you face?  What do you know or assume about the Nazi war machine and its soldiers?

 

What do you need to resist successfully?  Some of your responses here will certainly be of a physical nature, but what non-tangible considerations might you have?

 

You will have approximately 10 minutes to answer the above two questions.  A recorder should attempt to put down on paper all of the group’s offerings, and a spokesperson will then read the list to the class so that we can compile a master list of your ideas.

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What follows is a small sample of potential responses from students – keep in mind that all lists will be different, and no two classes will generate the same series of ideas.  Every discussion will be new and may take different turns.

 

What We Know About the Nazis

 

Ruthless killers

Well-equipped military

Very mobile

Ideologically driven

People fear them

Cutting-edge weapons and strategies

Cult of personality around Hitler

Intense nationalism

Chip on their shoulders from Versailles

Mobile killing squads – einsatzgruppen

Blitzkrieg – fast attacks, then move to the next target

Feared by their enemies (national governments)

 

What We Would Need to Resist

 

Weapons

A leader

Followers

Communications

Vehicles or horses

Faith

An “insider” among the Germans or their collaborators

A plan, strategy

A timetable for what we are going to do

Prediction of success – to help us plan what and where to do things

Spies

Suppliers

Food

Clean water

Matches or other light/heat/ignition sources

Publicity – a way to get the word out to other resistance groups/partisans so they can help us

Transportation

Luck

Surprise attacks

Know Nazi movements and/or their plans ahead of time

Trust in each other and the movement

Cooperation from others – outsiders or partisans

Medical supplies

Help from the outside world

Recorders to tell the world

Couriers

Smugglers

 

After compiling all responses, use passages from the book (see above) to describe things the Bielski brothers did in the course of their resistance.