BOOKS FROM POLANDDefiance
by Nechama Tec
Tags:
Set in Belarus
Female author
Description:
During the Holocaust years, many Jews struggled alone or with others against the terrors of the Nazis, risking their lives against overwhelming odds for the slimmest chance of survival. In Defiance, Nechama Tec offers a riveting history of one such group, a forest community in western Belorussia that would number more than 1,200 Jews by 1944 - including the elderly, women, and children. Tec recounts the astonishing details of how this Jewish partisan unit - hungry, exposed to the harsh winter weather, always on the lookout for German patrols - took on the duel role of fighters and rescuers. Founder and commander of the unit is the charismatic Tuvia Bielski, who with vision, courage, and defiance, led the largest armed rescue operation of Jews by Jews in World War II. In what is surely "the most amazing story you've never heard," Defiance is a gripping testament to the human will to survive and a dramatic account of resistance against all odds. Now a major film, starring Daniel Craig (Casino Royale) as Tuvia Bielski and Tony Award-winning Liev Schreiber as his brother Zus, head of intelligence operations, this reissue edition features a foreword by film director Edward Zwick (Blood Diamond, The Last Samurai, Glory) and a new preface by the author.
