On Sunday, we happened upon The Bielski Brothers documentary on the History Channel.

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.

Absolutely fascinating and inspiring.

More information is found here in this MSNBC article about the author of this book and his research about the brothers.

A lot of the survivors migrated to Brooklyn, which made me wonder if any lived in the Cooties’ neighborhood back when they lived there. Their neighborhood was primarily populated by Russian Jews, a lot of them quite elderly.

UPDATED: Nevermind about the Cooties’ neighborhood - they lived in Queens, which I knew. I blame pregnancy brain.

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1. Actually, it was our QUEENS neighborhood that was populated by the Orthodox Russian Jews (I loved that neighborhood and still speak fondly of it even though we left in 2001).  Our area in Brooklyn was all Italian when Denis lived there.

   Posted by Jaynee  on  11/14/06  at  03:49 PM

2. I meant Queens.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  11/14/06  at  03:59 PM

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