Product Description

Living in the Soviet Republic of Belorussia during World War II, Tuvia, Asael and Zus Bielski saved more than twelve-hundred of their fellow Jews from perishing in the Holocaust, yet their story has largely gone untold. The Bielski's built an elaborate village in the woods, from which they rescued Jews and mounted guerilla attacks against the Nazis. Their forest haven included a gun workshop, a bakery, a synagogue, a communal bath and even a theater company. Containing interviews with Bielski Brigade survivors in the United States, Israel and Great Britain, we proudly pay tribute to three of the greatest unsung heroes of the Holocaust.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12018 in DVD
• Brand: A&E HOME ENT.
• Released on: 2009-03-31
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 50 minutes

Features

• Living in the Soviet Republic of Belorussia during World War II, Tuvia, Asael and Zus Bielski saved more than twelve-hundred of their fellow Jews from perishing in the Holocaust, yet their story has largely gone untold. The Bielski's built an elaborate village in the woods, from which they rescued Jews and mounted guerilla attacks against the Nazis. Their forest haven included a gun workshop, a ba

Amazon.com
The true story behind Edward Zwick's Defiance is laid out in this brisk, straight-to-the-point account of the Bielski brothers, the leaders of a large, organized Jewish resistance effort during World War II. Escaped Jews from the ghettoes of Eastern Europe joined together in the woods under the leadership of Tuvia, Zus, and Asael Bielski, and for over two years they created their own hidden society of approximately 1200 people. This History Channel installment gathers together survivors of the partisan movement to tell stories, some of which are incredibly moving, such as the escape of Mike Stoll and his sister Bella from a train headed to a concentration camp. Another survivor recalls escaping the horror of the ghetto and coming upon the Bielskis in their forest enclave, where Jews were no longer under the heel of the enemy: "The whole camp was… something of a dream." The documentary's brevity means we don't get much depth on how the Bielski partisans actually survived from day to day, although a couple of the interviewees are frank about what they had to do to keep going. But this is balanced by the value of actually hearing the voices and seeing the faces of those who were there; when one woman sings a song of the camp, the decades suddenly collapse. As a companion piece to Defiance, it suggests the Zwick film was faithful to the facts, and to this story of heroism under terrible circumstances. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

The Bielski Brothers
This is one of the best WWII documentaries I have seen by the History Channel. It does an excellent job of not only giving you the facts, but making you feel like you experienced what happened when three Belorussian brothers that happened to be Jewish decided to try and hide others like themselves from the Germans. That would have been heroic in itself, but these three brothers didn't stop there, they used guerilla tactics against the Germans as well. Good quality DVD with plenty of replayability. If you enjoyed this catch Defiance.

CA Luster

Excellent
This DVD is great. True heros. The Beilski brothers make me proud to be Jewish. I am very happy their story was told. I am surprised it took this long to have this awesome story surface to the public. Better late than never.

No captions!!
What a shame this documentary only has sub-titles for the speakers who do not speak English. Most of the others have heavy accents. I wear hearing aids and it was nearly impossible for me to understand a great deal of what was said. How can any modern production not be captioned for the hearing-impaired?