Book Description

In 1941, three brothers 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. Instead of running or giving in to despair, these brothers -- Tuvia, Zus, and Asael Bielski -- fought back, waging a guerrilla war of wits against the Nazis.

By using their intimate knowledge of the dense forests surrounding the Belarusan towns of Novogrudek and Lida, the Bielskis evaded the Nazis and established a hidden base camp, then set about convincing other Jews to join their ranks. As more and more Jews arrived each day, a robust community began to emerge, a "Jerusalem in the woods."

After two and a half years in the woods, in July 1944, the Bielskis learned that the Germans, overrun by the Red Army, were retreating back toward Berlin. More than one thousand Bielski Jews emerged -- alive -- on that final, triumphant exit from the woods.


About the Author
Peter Duffy lives in New York City with his wife and daughter. The Bielski Brothers is his first book.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

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.

Using their intimate knowledge of the dense forests surrounding the Belorussian towns of Novogrudek and Lida, the Bielskis evaded the Nazis and established a hidden base camp, then set about convincing other Jews to join their ranks. When the Nazis began systematically eliminating the local Jewish populations -- more than ten thousand were killed in the first year of the Nazi occupation alone -- the Bielskis intensified their efforts, often sending fighting men into the ghettos to escort Jews to safety. As more and more Jews arrived each day, a robust community began to emerge, a "Jerusalem in the woods." They slept in camouflaged dugouts built into the ground. Lovers met, were married, and conceived children. The community boasted a synagogue, a bathhouse, a theater, and cobblers so skilled that Russian officers would wait in line to have their boots reshod.

But as its notoriety grew, so too did the Nazi efforts to capture the rugged brothers; and on several occasions they came so near to succeeding that the Bielskis had to abandon the camp and lead their massiveentourage to newer, safer locations. And while some argued in favor of a smaller, more mobile unit, focused strictly on waging battle against the Germans, Tuvia Bielski was firm in his commitment to all Jews. "I'd rather save one old Jewish woman," he said, "than kill ten Nazis."

In July 1944, after two and a half years in the woods, the Bielskis learned that the Germans, overrun by the Red Army, were retreating back toward Berlin. More than one thousand Bielski Jews emerged -- alive -- on that final, triumphant exit from the woods.

The Bielski Brothers is a dramatic and heartfelt retelling of a story of the truest heroism, a historic testament to courage in the face of unspeakable adversity.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

This is a story about heroes, and Duffy does a masterful job of telling it. The narrative begins on a farm in Stankevich, a village in what is now Belarus. After witnessing the brutal execution of their parents by Nazi soldiers, the three Bielski brothers, Tuvia, Asael and Zus, fled into the nearby dense forest, where they joined relatives and friends, scrounged for food and weapons and inflicted whatever damage they could on German troops. As the group grew, the brothers sent word to the nearby ghettos in Lida and Novogrudek to join the steadily increasing brigade. For the Jews gated in by the ghetto walls, slated for death, word of the Bielski group was barely believable. For those who dared to believe and managed to escape, the Bielski brothers offered more than food and protection-they offered hope. The brigade grew to an astonishing 1,200 Jews who built a secret village deep in the forest. The group's cumbersome size made it an easy target, but Tuvia, the eldest brother, refused to turn any Jew away. With courage, ingenuity and sometimes sheer dumb luck, the brothers led the group through the dense forests of Belarus as the Germans hunted them down. Yet the world has heard little of this event. Years after the war, when Tuvia was living in Brooklyn, New York (all three brothers have since died), no one knew that the local immigrant truck driver had once commanded the feared Bielski brigade. It is time the three brothers received their due. (July) Forecast: This remarkable story would make a terrific movie. With good publicity, sales should be brisk. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Duffy, a freelance journalist, relates in vivid detail the World War II saga of the Bielski partisans. Led by the three Bielski brothers, these partisans formed the largest group of Jewish fighters on the eastern front and managed to save approximately 1200 Jews during the war, taking refuge in the Belorussian forest. Prior to the conflict, the Bielski brothers, in particular Tuvia, developed a reputation for being willing to respond forcefully to anti-Semitic acts. When war came, the Bielskis' history of aggressive response to threats had prepared them to fight back. Although clearly impressed with the Bielskis' accomplishments, as well as with the men themselves, Duffy does not let that detract from recounting the less noble aspects of partisan life. The Bielskis were tough disciplinarians, executing some of their own men for violating regulations and killing an entire Polish family whose patriarch was actively assisting the Nazis' extermination of the Jews. The political tensions with Soviet authorities during the war was one of the factors in the decision of almost the entire Bielski clan to emigrate to the United States after the war. Not as scholarly as Nechama Tec's Defiance: The Bielski Partisans, this book is recommended for a general audience.-Frederic Krome, Jacob Rader Marcus Ctr. of the American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews