Alexander Zeisal Bielski

Alexander Zeisal Bielski

Bielski circa 1945-1948
Born 19 October 1912(1912-10-19)
Stankiewicze, near Navahrudak
Died 18 August 1995(1995-08-18) (aged 82)
Brooklyn
Cause of death Heart attack
Other names Zus Bielski
Known for Bielski partisans
Spouse Cyrl Borowski[1] (first wife)
Sonia
Children David
Jay
Zvi (b. 1951)
Relatives Tuvia Bielski, brother
Asael Bielski, brother
Aron Bielski, brother

Alexander Zeisal 'Zus' Bielski (19 October 1912 – 18 August 1995) was a leader of the Bielski partisans that rescued approximately 1,200 Jews from Nazi execution in Belarus during World War II.

Biography

Alexander "Zus" Bielski was born approximately 1912. He grew up in the only Polish Jewish family in Stankiewicze, a small village in Eastern Poland (now Western Belarus) located between towns of Lida and Navahrudak (both housed Jewish ghettoes during World War II.) He was the son of David and Beila Bielski, who had twelve children: ten boys and two girls. With his brothers, he formed the Bielski partisans. The group hid in the forests of Belarus throughout World War II, led by the Bielskis. Zus, along with his brothers Tuvia, Aron, and Asael, managed to save 1,236 Jews. Although he left the partisans for the Red Army for a few months, he returned to save his brothers and the innocent Jews from the Germans. Today, those who were saved have over 10,000 offspring. His first wife, Cyrl Borowski,[2] and infant daughter were murdered by the Nazis. One of those rescued was eighteen-year-old Sonia Boldo, whom he would later marry.[3]

After the war, he initially moved to Israel, but left to move to New York in 1956. There, he operated a taxi fleet and a trucking company with his brother Tuvia Bielski. He died of cardiac arrest in Brooklyn at age 82.[3] He was survived by his wife Sonia, sons David, Jay, and Zvi, and six grandchildren, Matthew, Danielle, Elan, Rebecca, Rachel and Jessica. Jay served in the IDF as a volunteer during the 1973 war and Zvi served in the Israeli Paratroopers during the Lebanon incursion. Matt Bielski and Elan Bielski, Jay's sons, served in the elite Israeli Paratroopers.[3][4]

Legacy

Bielski was portrayed by Liev Schreiber in the 2008 film Defiance.

References

  1. ^ Tec, Nechama (2009). Defiance; the Bielski Partisan. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 15. 
  2. ^ Tec, Nechama (2009). Defiance; the Bielski Partisan. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 15. 
  3. ^ a b c "Alexander Z. Bielski, 83, a Guerrilla Fighter Who Harried Nazis and Saved Jews, Is Dead". New York Times. August 23, 1995. http://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/23/obituaries/alexander-z-bielski-83-guerrilla-fighter-who-harried-nazis-saved-jews-dead.html?scp=1&sq=Bielski&st=cse. Retrieved 2009-04-01. "Alexander Zeisal Bielski, a leader of the famous Bielski Brigade that harried German occupation forces and rescued hundreds of Jews from Nazi execution in Byelorussia during World War II, died on Friday at his home in Brooklyn. He was 82. His family said he died of cardiac arrest." 
  4. ^ Children of the Otriad (c) 2008 Paramount Pictures Corporation, included in the special features on the 2008 DVD Definance