The Republic of the Bielski Brothers

FORUM-znak.org.pl

August 2003

On the borderland of the second People's Republic, at the heart of the Nalibocka forest, between the Niemen and Berezyna rivers, partisan-Jews created the headquarters that was virtually a small town - with craftsman shops, a hospital and a synagogue. Over 1200 of them survived the war.

From the fall of 1941 until the beginning of 1942 this was the family camp of the Bielski family: Asaela (born in 1908), Zusa (born in 1912) and Tewje (born in 1906). The Bielski family of farmers and millers came from a village between Nowogrodek and Lida. The head of the organization became Tewje, who was a non-commissioned officer of the Polish army and had the necessary charisma. He also had a vision, which he considered his life mission: to save the Jews. At that time this was a controversial vision, since many people in his surroundings thought that the foremost duty was to attack the Germans. Yet he wanted to save the Jews. He send his emissaries to nearby ghettos and convinced Jews to escape and join his unit. His "family" group, initially of a few dozen, created a larger unit which in the last phase of its operations had 1,200 members.

In the Nalibocki forest operated also other partisan units made up of Russians, Belorussians, Poles and Jews. The history of the relations of the Bielski family with Polish partisans is not well known. In the region of Nalibocki forest operated the unit of the Home Army under the command of lieutenant Milaszewski. Tewje Bielski and Milaszewski frequently met, played chess and were quite good friends.

During the fall of 1943 the headquarters of Soviet partisans in the Nalibocki forest decided to wipe out the unit of the Home Army. Hence all subordinate units were supposed to participate in that operation. The post-war testimonies of Jewish partisans show that Bielski was ordered to assign 50 armed partisans. The investigation regarding the crime in Naliboki - committed by Soviet partisans in 1943 - is currently conducted by the Institute of National Remembrance in Lodz. Yet in a press release we read: "the Polish investigative authorities have not confirmed the participation of Jews in the Naliboki crime".

The Bielski brothers - apart from Asael, who died in the ranks of the Red Army at Koenigsberg - survived the war and emigrated to Palestine. In 1948 Tewje participated in the defensive war. During the fifties the Bielski families emigrated to the USA. Tewje died in 1987, while Zus in 1995.

Marian Turski, Republika braci Bielskich (The Republic of the Bielski Brothers),

Polityka, 26 lipca 2003, p. 66-68.