Tuvia Bielski

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Tuvia Bielski
Bielski c. 1950–1955
Born(1906-05-08)May 8, 1906
Stankiewicze, near Novogrudok, Russian Empire (now Belarus)
DiedJune 12, 1987(1987-06-12) (aged 81)
New York City, U.S.
NationalityBelarusian
Known forBielski partisans
Spouse
Lila Tiktin
​
(m. 1943)​
Children3
Parent(s)David and Beila Bielski
RelativesAsael Bielski, brother
Alexander Zeisal Bielski, brother
Aron Bielski, brother

Tuvia Bielski (May 8, 1906 – June 12, 1987) was a Belarusian Jewish militant who was leader of the

Holocaust during World War II. Their camp was situated in the Naliboki forest, which was part of Poland between World War I and World War II, and which is now in western Belarus
.

Biography

Bielski grew up in the only Jewish family in Stankiewicze. The small village in

Navahrudak, both of which housed Jewish ghettos during World War II
.

Tuvia was the son of David and Beila Bielski, who had 12 children: 10 boys and two girls. Tuvia was the third eldest. His brothers Asael, Alexander ("Zus") and Aron were later to become members of his partisan group.

In 1927, Bielski was recruited into the

Polish Army, where he eventually became a corporal in the 30th Infantry Battalion.[citation needed] After completing his military service, Bielski returned home. In an effort to add to his family's income, he rented another mill. This income was still inadequate, so in 1929, at the age of 23, he married an older woman named Rifka who owned a general store and a large house. The couple lived in the nearby small town of Subotniki.[1]

During the

Soviet occupation in 1939, Bielski feared that he would be arrested by the NKVD due to his "bourgeois capitalist" occupation, so he moved to Lida.[1]
Before Tuvia left Subotniki he urged his wife, Rifka, to join him in the move to Lida. She refused.

In Soviet-controlled Lida, Bielski met and fell in love with another woman named Sonia Warshavsky. The love affair became serious. In late 1939, Bielski divorced his wife, Rifka[2] and married Sonia, though they were not yet "officially" married due to wartime conditions.[3] Sonia was killed while taking shelter with others in a peasant home. Not long after, Tuvia married Lila "Lilka" Tiktin, who was only 17 at the time. They knew each other before the war and stayed married until his death 44 years later.[4]

World War II

Main article: Bielski partisans

When

Nowogródek. The four Bielski brothers managed to flee to the nearby forest. Their parents, two of their brothers and other family members, including Rifka and Zus' wife and child, were killed in the ghetto on December 8, 1941.[3]

Tuvia Bielski led a group of

Holocaust. The Bielski partisans ultimately saved the lives of more than 1,200 Jews.[3][6]

In 1944, Asael Bielski was conscripted into the Soviet Army and killed in battle in Germany.[3]

Later life

After the war, Tuvia, Zus and their wives went to Israel via Romania, and ultimately immigrated to the United States in 1956. They joined their older brother Walter in New York, where he had gone before the war.[3] Tuvia and Zus ran a small trucking firm in New York City for 30 years. He remained married to Lilka for the remainder of their lives. They had three children: sons Michael and Robert, and daughter Ruth, and ten grandchildren. Granddaughter Sharon Rennert made a documentary about her family called In Our Hands: The Legacy of the Bielski Partisans.[7]

When Tuvia died in 1987, he was nearly penniless. He was initially buried on Long Island; one year after his death, his remains were exhumed and taken to Jerusalem, where he was given a state funeral with full military honors in 1988. The exact grave is at Har Tamir, a part of Har HaMenuchot. The following location is in Hebrew using Latin letters: Gush taf-bet, Chelka daled, Shura 19, kever 11 (block 402, section 4, row 19, grave 11).[3]

Legacy

Naliboki.[8][9] The Naliboki massacre was the subject of an official inquiry by the Polish Institute of National Remembrance's Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation. The investigation ultimately did not find conclusive evidence linking the Bielski group to the crime.[10]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-19-509390-9
    .
  2. ISBN 0-19-509390-9
    .
  3. ^ a b c d e f Duffy, Peter (May 28, 2000). "Heroes Among Us". The New York Times. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  4. ^ Defiance: the Bielski partisans. Nechama Tec. Oxford University Press. 1993
  5. ISBN 0-19-509390-9
    .
  6. ISBN 9780099551799
    .
  7. ^ Children of the Otriad, (c) 2008 Paramount Pictures Corporation, included with special features on the 2008 DVD Defiance
  8. ^ "Bohater w cieniu zbrodni". Rzeczpospolita. Archived from the original on 2012-10-04. Retrieved 2011-01-20.
  9. ^ "Bielski w puszczy niedomówień". Rzeczpospolita. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2011-01-20.
  10. ^ "Instytut Pamięci Narodowej | Komunikat dot. śledztwa w sprawie zbrodni popełnionych przez". Ipn.gov.pl. 2008-06-19. Retrieved 2018-02-07.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tuvia_Bielski&oldid=1209905130"