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Birth: 1906

Death: 1987

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union Tuvia and his brothers swore to never be caught by the Germans. Using his knowledge of the area he evaded capture and organized a small group of Jews, which would grow over time.

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Birth: 1908

Death: 1945

Helped his brother find their family. Initially wanted to go after Nazi soldiers instead of saving Jewish people. Eventually decided to help the Jewish people and helped Tuvia, becoming hs deputy. After the war he was drafted into the Red Army and was killed in East Prussia

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Birth: 1912

Death: 1995

After his army unit disbanded, due to the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Zus decided to go back to his home. After learning that his home was under German control and that Nazis had killed his wife and infant daughter he decided to join his brothers. Tuvia put Zus in charge of intelligence. He used the intelligence he gathered in order to steal German weapons and interfere with German operations. He later was transferred to the Ordzonikidze unit and became the leader of reconnaissance.

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Sonia Bielski (left), Yakov Bielski (middle), "Zus" Bielski (right)

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Tuvia and "Zus" Bielski sitting on a couch with a friend

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The Bielski Brothers were all born in the town of Stankiwicze. It is in Poland but was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1939.

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The Naliboki forest was the forest that the Bielski Partisans operated in.

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During 1942 the Bielski Otriad led special mission into the Iwie ghetto, which ended up saving the lives of over a hundred Jewish people living there. The Bielski Otriad had received information that the Nazis had been planning on liquidating everyone in the ghetto. After hearing this many scouts led people out of the ghetto and into the safety of the forest.

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During 1943 Germany sent out a 100,000 Reichmark bounty on the Bielski Otriad. Hearing about this Tuvia moved everyone into the hard to reach Naliboki forest. In this forest they began using the skill of the 700+ members to build a community including a school, an infirmary, a bakery, a courthouse, and a lot more.

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Many of the missions carried out by the Bielski Otriad were small things that could effect the Nazis in a big way. They would constantly steal guns from Nazis and would burn crop fields so they could not gather any food from it.

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The main purpose of the group was to save, protect, and help as many Jews as they could. When deciding what to do with the group Tuvia said "I would rather save one old Jewish woman than kill 10 Nazi soldiers." They did this by finding Jewish people willing to risk an escape of the ghettos. Once they found these people they would send out scouts to help guide them.

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Soviet partisans had control over parts of the Naliboki forest that were not occupied by Germany. Tuvia himself became friends with a leader of a Soviet partisan group. This helped Tuvia overcome the antisemitism in the Soviet partisan detachments and become recognized as a vital role for a maintenance base. This helped the group protect its members.

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When the war ended in 1945 Tuvia decided to move to Palestine. He ended up fighting with the Israeli armed forces in 1948 in order to establish the state if Israel. In 1956 Tuvia moved to America where he died at 81.

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Aseal was drafted into the Red Army and six months later was killed in the battle of Königsberg. Before he died he had a daughter named Assaela who is now a journalist.

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Zus moved to Palestine with Tuvia in 1945. He also joined the Israeli armed forces. He moved to America in 1956 where he eventually married and had kids. He died at age 82