The Bielski Brothers is a non-fiction book by Peter Duffy published in 2003. It tells the story of Tuvia Bielski, Alexander "Zus" Bielski, and Asael Bielski, three Jewish brothers who established a large partisan camp in the forests of Belarus during World War II, and so saved 1,200 Jews from the Nazis.
The book describes how, 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 be repeated endlessly throughout the war. These brothers fought back against Germans and collaborators, waging a guerilla war against the Nazis in the forests of Belarus.
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. The Germans found them in the forest once but they were not able to get rid of them. 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.[1]
At the end of the war, with Soviet control of Belarus becoming increasingly oppressive, Tuvia Bielski and his remaining brothers fled to Romania, traveling on to Mandatory Palestine and eventually to the United States. One brother, Asael, had been drafted into the Soviet Red Army and was killed in action at Marlbork in 1944.
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Publishers Weekly said "This is a story about heroes, and Duffy does a masterful job of telling it." The publication said, that after the war, when Tuvia Bielski was living in Brooklyn, "no one knew that the local immigrant truck driver had once commanded the feared Bielski brigade. It is time the four brothers received their due." It said that "This remarkabltitse story would make a terrific movie."[2]
Library Journal said that the book "relates in vivid detail the World War II saga of the Bielski partisans." It said: "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."[2]
Kirkus Reviews called it "A powerful recounting of a little-known story" and that the book was "more uplifting than most" Holocaust books. It said: "The day-in, day-out account of the next four years is an often unbearably intense chronicle of horror and courage. A novel telling a similar story would almost certainly be dismissed as outlandish, but Duffy's copious endnotes convincingly document the saga’s reality."
The book was criticized in the Polish press. Some of those reviews came from extreme right-wing and/or antisemitic circles while others came from mainstream press. The critics alleged that the book repeated the myth about a supposed Bór-Komorowski order that allegedly mandated the Polish underground to kill off Jewish partisans (this allegation is probably based on Order nr. 116, which called for extermination of criminal groups and protection of local population).[3] The hardcover edition of the book removed this error.
The book was also criticized for not making a reference to the massacre in Naliboki, in which Bielskis' partisans allegedly participated.[4]. Their alleged involvement has been a subject of investigation by IPN, the Polish Institute of National Remembrance that investigates historical crimes in Poland. As of January 2009 IPN has not released its report, however several researchers of the IPN have stated in their own publications that the Bielskis were not involved in the massacre. [5]
Polish critics also contended the book did not sufficiently concentrate on the question of securing food from local population.[6] (Duffy, however, describes several allegations made against the Bielski brothers).
The book was also criticized for accusing Armia Krajowa of being an ally of German occupiers.[7]