Jewsh Fighters of the Belorussian Forests: Review of Defiance

Defiance: The Bielski Partisans by Nechama Tec


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Once again, I'm back with the Polish partisans in WWII. I swear, I have no ulterior motive, I've just been getting pulled back to these same people and lands for the past few years, I'm not sure why.

Then again, maybe this book doesn't count. It depends on who you ask if the land is eastern Poland or western Belorussian (now Belarus, in between part of the Soviet Union). It depends on who you ask what the nationality of the Bielskis was - Polish Jews, Belorussian Jews, Russian partisans, Soviet guerrillas, just Jews?

The story of Tuvia Bielski and his band is harrowing. What else can you expect of a place invaded three times in five years? A place where the choice of language for greeting a stranger could mean the difference between a free meal and a shoot-out? (Incidentally, those language options include Belorussian, Russian, German, Polish, Yiddish, Hebrew, Ukrainian, and Lithuanian).

Part of me was expecting more adventure tales of brave raids and crazy stunts, like a history of the SAS - but Tuvia and company didn't have the luxury of bravery. Instead, the Bielski brothers kept a sanctuary for any and all Jews with just enough violence to keep everyone fed and Soviet authorities off their backs.

The other part of me wanted a primer on building a Robin Hood citadel in the forest. In this I was also denied, but educated on how being mobile in a crisis and preserving people over things or places should be the true priority.

You'll have to excuse me now. I really should be checking the contents of the family's bug-out bags.

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One Dead in Fight Over Bronze Soldier

If you thought the controversy over the WWII Memorial in D.C. got heated, be glad you don't live in Tallinn, Estonia.

Estonian officials are trying to move a Soviet-built WWII memorial and military grave complex out of the center of their capital city. Estonian nationalists say that 'Bronze Soldier' is a reminder of the Soviet conquest and occupation of the Baltic States in 1940 (and again in 1944). As in many parts of Soviet-occupied Eastern Europe, partisans stayed in the wild to battle the Red Army after harassing the Nazis for years. Ethnic Russians in Estonia feel that the memorial simply honors the soldiers who died to defeat Nazi Germany.

Excavations have begun to move the memorial and at least one man is dead in the subsequent protests and riots. The Russia's upper house of Parliament is calling for a break in diplomatic relations with Estonia. Even with the threats and the violence, it looks like the Bronze Soldier can expect to find a new home in a military cemetery outside the city.