Brandeis community members gather to view "Pictures of Resistance"On April 14th, 2010 "Pictures of Resistance" opened to a full house at Brandeis University for its Boston debut. This rare collection of images by the only known Jewish partisan photographer gave attendees a rare look into the world of the Jewish partisan resistance fighters who resisted the Germans and their collaborators during WWII. The photos were presented alongside the stories behind each of the images – stories of heroism, bravery, camaraderie and loss – as recounted by the partisan photographer herself.
Brandeis also brought in Zvi Bielski, son of the Zus Bielski, who showed a multimedia presentation about his family. Bielski recalled his childhood growing up in the famous, and sometimes infamous family of resistance fighters that were immortalized in the recent Hollywood film Defiance. "Growing up I had no idea the Jews actually lost the war. Sure, I knew relatives had died in the war, but I figured they all died fighting the Nazis like my dad and uncles had." The Bielski brigade saved over 1,200 individuals whose offspring today number in the tens of thousands. Bielski regaled the audience with these stories of his family's heroism, of rescue and survival against the toughest odds, eliciting audible reactions from the audience throughout the evening. Some were even moved to tears.
"Often we hear of Jews as victims, but the stories portrayed in the exhibit spoke of Jews as heroes," said Brandeis graduate student Jessica Levine. "It gave me a new, different Holocaust story to tell, one of resistance and resilience. It made me feel proud to be a Jew."
- prepared for JPEF by V. Judah Khaykin former JPEF Staff and
Brandeis-Genesis Institute Fellow
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