From the Inside Flap
As the Second World War and the Nazi assault on Europe ended, some 25,000 Jews, entire families in some instances, walked out of the forests of Eastern Europe. For three years, these men, women, and children had miraculously survived—eluding Nazi hunts and Soviet, Polish, and Ukrainian partisans who often killed first and asked questions later. They had escaped from the Nazi ghettos and slave labor
camps and formed secret partisan camps in the surrounding forests. The forest not only protected them, it also became their base for sabotage and resistance efforts against the Germans and their allies.
Based on extensive research and numerous interviews with the survivors themselves, Fugitives of the Forest tells the harrowing and heroic story of those who resisted amid such perilous conditions. Some may ask the troubling question: why did not more Jews resist? But the question author-historian Allan Levine poses in this riveting, award-winning book is more apt: how, under the circumstances, was any resistance possible at all? Among the stories in these pages that answer this question:
• The remarkable story of Tuvia Bielski and his rescue of more than 1,200 Jews from a certain death—
the subject of the major motion picture Defiance, starring Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber
• The tragic resistance struggle of Dr. Yeheskel Atlas, who formed a partisan band to avenge his
murdered family
• The bravery and resourcefulness of “Uncle Misha” Gildenman, whose partisans included the brave
twelve-year-old Mordechai “Motele” Shlayan
• The tale of the Vilna ghetto
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
From the Back Cover
WINNER OF THE YAD VASHEM PRIZE FOR HOLOCAUST HISTORY IN CANADA
PRAISE FOR FUGITIVES OF THE FOREST
“[M]eticulously researched. . . . [A] must read for those who wonder about
organized Jewish resistance to the Holocaust.”
—Globe and Mail
“[This] book justifies itself historically and morally. Levine’s sober tone is,
after all, a retort to the livid obscenity of history.”
—Toronto Star
“Allan Levine has written an important book. . . . He tells the story of Jewish armed resistance in Eastern Europe very well. He weaves personal vignettes, often poignant, into his narrative. . . .
[A] graphic and gripping account.”
—Winnipeg Free Press
“For those of us who participated in the events detailed in these pages, the book’s
significance lies in the author’s ability to chronicle our thoughts, our moods,
our objectives, our tragedies, and our sufferings, as well as our hopes,
dreams, and victories.”
—Peter Silverman, a former resistance fighter
From Fugitives of the Forest
“We were always armed and had an understanding that if we were ambushed, we would fight until we were killed. If need be, we would shoot one another rather than be captured. It was inevitable that we would die—but death would come on our terms.” —Jack Sutin, Jewish partisan fighter
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
