JPEF's New Poster -- Zus Bielski

We have released a new poster -- featuring Jewish partisan Zus Bielski. Zus was one of 12 children, and with his brothers Tuvia, Asael, and Aron Bielski formed the largest all Jewish partisan group. The group had 1,200 members and today, there are 15,000 - 20,000 decedents from the Bielski Brigade -- alive today because of Zus and his brothers.

Zus was featured in the film "Defiance" directed by Edward Zwick and played by Liev Schreiber.

The poster reads, "Zus Bielski and his brothers fought against the Nazis and saved more than 1,200 lives" and was poster was designed by Chicago based designer Eric Triantafillou.

Download a PDF on the JPEF "Defiance" page here.

If you are interested in a t-shirt of this image, please write rachel@jewishpartisans.org.

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JPEF Executive Director, Mitch Braff, to Speak in Seattle

 

On Thursday, January 13th, JPEF's Executive Director, Mitch Braff will speak at the Opening Reception of "Pictures of Resistance: The Wartime Photographs of Jewish Partisan Faye Schulman". The reception runs from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM (PST) at Hillel, University of Washington with the Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center (WSHERC).

On January 14th (8:30 AM - 3:00 PM PST), Braff and Tuvia Bielski's granddaughter, Sharon Rennert, are featured speakers for a teacher training. JPEF's "Women in the Partisans" training will accompany Rennert's "In Our Hands: A Personal Story of the Bielski Partisans."

View the event flyer.

Register for the training here.

"Pictures of Resistance" will run at UW Hillel until February 17.


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JPEF Partisan, Jeff Gradow, Celebrates 86 Years

Yesterday was Jewish partisan, Jeff Gradow's 86th Birthday. During World War II, Jeff was forced to take refuge in the forest when the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa. Years later the Soviets would air drop supplies and weapons to his partisan group. This help allowed the camp to launch guerilla attacks on nearby German soldiers. In 1944, his partisan group was absorbed by the Red Army.

Jeff eventually moved to the United States where he still resides today.

As a JPEF partisan, we feature Jeff's story and images on our website. Click here to read more about Jeff.


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Two JPEF Jewish Partisan Birthdays in December

Blaichman in Polish partisan uniform, 1945

This month, Jewish partisan Frank Blaichman celebrated his 88th birthday. Frank was only 16 years old when the Germans invaded Poland. Month by month, life became harder until in 1942, the Jews of Frank's hometown of Kamionka, were to be resettled in a ghetto. Determined to keep his freedom, Frank left his family and eventually joined other Jews hiding in a nearby forest. When Frank was only 21 years old, he became the youngest platoon commander in a partisan unit. Frank met his wife, Cesia, while they were both in partisan units.

Frank has documented his stories and experiences from his life as a partisan in his book: Rather Die Fighting. Purchase this incredible resource here.

Frank has appeared in multiple JPEF documentaries including "Antisemitism in the Partisans" and "Introduction to the Partisans."

Eta Wrobel portrait, 1945

Polish Jewish partisan Eta Wrobel (z"l) was also born on December 28, 1918. She was the only child in a family of ten to survive the Holocaust. Eta described herself to be "born a fighter." In 1942 Eta's ghetto was forced into concentration camps, but Eta and her father escaped into the woods. Eta helped to organize an all Jewish partisan unit of about 80 people. At one point Eta was shot in the leg and dug the bullet out of her leg with a knife.

Because of her exceptional military skills, she was active on missions with men and made important strategic decisions.

Eta is featured in the JPEF film, "Women in the Partisans," and she also inspired the original JPEF poster and sticker images.

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Bold Plans for JPEF's Future

JPEF's staff and board are thoughtfully planning the organization's next 10 years. Existing programs
are being strengthened and new ones are being developed to reach thousands of educators and
millions of students. "We want to reach every 6th-12th grade student in public, private, and parochial
schools, ensuring that they all learn about and are inspired by the history and the life lessons of the
Jewish partisans," says JPEF board co-chair Elliott Felson. To accomplish that goal, JPEF has
introduced the E-Learning Platform, a new technology that has the potential to reach millions more
and will have a far-reaching and profound impact in the field of education.

JPEF will also focus on strengthening its relationship with over 5,000 educators and organizations
who currently use JPEF material making them easily accessible to every educator who wants to use
them. This will include the establishment of an endowment, a planned giving campaign, and plans to
promote JPEF programs in Israel, Europe, and the former Soviet Union. These efforts ensure that
JPEF's bold vision will become a reality. For more information, please contact JPEF's executive
director, Mitch Braff, mitch@jewishpartisans.org.

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Class Trip to Yad Vashem

Ilana Fine Bar-hai (see Meet a JPEF Educator) recently took her class to Yad Vashem. During the visit, her class used the JPEF website to do research.

Israeli student learns about Jewish partisan Brenda Senders

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Meet a JPEF Educator

Ilana Fine Bar-Hai

Ort Afridar Ronson High School, Ashkelon, Israel

JPEF materials are now being used worldwide. One example is in Israel where teacher Ilana Bar-Hai is asking her students to do a year-long project on the Jewish partisans. The focus of the project is to utilize JPEF's online materials. Bar-Hai wants to empower her students through the life lessons of the Jewish partisans. Her students were astounded by many of the partisans' courage. "When teaching about the Holocaust, we tend to focus on camps and being a victim, whereas the JPEF website and curricula instill my students with a sense of pride."

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