Jewish Resistance
With Dina Friedman Author of Escape into the Night

Rescue and protection is an important component of teaching the history and lessons of the Holocaust.  Since the release of “Schindler’s List” more people around the world have become aware of the important rescue and protection work done by Christians and others living under Nazi occupation.  Less known are the rescue and protection efforts  by Jews who were themselves targeted for annihilation by the Nazis and their collaborators.

Tuvia Bielski was the commander of a Jewish partisan group.  He and his brothers Zusya, Asael, and Aharon escaped into the forest from the ghetto in Novogrudok, a village in Belarus near the Lithuanian border.  Hundreds of Jews from the villages in the vicinity of Novogrudok joined forces with the Bielski brothers to fight the Nazis and their collaborators.  Approximately 1,200 Jews who were incapable of fighting with the partisans because they were too old, too young, or too sick, were taken into the Bielski brothers’ forest compound. They were sheltered, fed, and kept safe there until the area was liberated.

Dina Friedman is the author of a new young adult novel, Escape into the Night, that recounts the courageous acts of the Bielski partisans.  She made a presentation and led a workshop for teachers on Jewish resistance and rescue and protection efforts.