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Defiance

The Bielski Partisans

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Defiance

By: Nechama Tec
Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
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About this listen

 The prevailing image of European Jews during the Holocaust is one of helpless victims. But in fact, many Jews struggled against the terrors of the Third Reich.

This is the riveting history of one such group: a forest community numbering more than 1,200 that carried out the largest armed rescue operation of Jews by Jews in World War II. Nechama Tec reconstructs the amazing details of how these men and women of all ages - hungry, largely unarmed, and exposed to harsh winter weather - managed not only to survive but to take on the dual role of fighters and rescuers. Under the guidance of their charismatic leader, Tuvia Bielski, they smuggled Jews out of heavily guarded ghettos, led retaliatory raids against Nazi collaborators, and offered protection to all Jewish fugitives who could find their way to them.

©1993 Nechama Tec (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc. World Holocaust Survival Middle East Russia

Critic Reviews

"One of the most elevating and inspiring stories in the chronicle of death and despair that is the Holocaust....an accomplished and startling work of Holocaust documentation." ( Los Angeles Times)
"An exciting story of rescuers and fighters - a story that should have been documented years ago....Defiance will no doubt engender further interest in the subject of Jewish partisan activity." ( Social Education)
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Let me preface this by saving, I added this to my TBR back in 2012 after rewatching the film Defiance which was based on this book. I loved the film, and I think that I had somehow expected the book to be like the film, where it follows mainly the lives of the brother, this was not the case.

This is a novel that explores the stories of the Bielski Partisans, particularly, how they came to join the otriad. As previously mentioned, this is not what I had expected. I had expected a story that was more about the Bielski brothers and not so much about the other partisans. However, when I started getting into the book, it makes sense why it was not done this way. Firstly, the author was only able to interview Tuvia Bielski for approximately two hours before he passed away. Therefore, most of her interviews came from the wives of the brothers and surviving partisans.

The stories of the partisans are very moving and insightful. It is incredibly moving to hear their stories of strength, bravery, courage and sacrifice. It is also amazing to see how over 1,000 people were able to create an almost fully sustainable community in the middle of the forest.

Furthermore, another interesting element of this book was reading about the Soviet Otriads and reading about their interesting makeup.

A very informative read!

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An enlightening account of what really happened in Defiance.
Amazing how they survived and what they went through.

A good listen

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