Defiance

Bullets flew past their heads. Tuvia and Mechlis fell to the ground. Rough, excited voices speaking German kept reaching them: “Hurrah, catch the Jews, catch! Catch! Catch!” The attackers had probably hoped that hidden Jews would start running and thus be hit

to encourage them, for things really looked bad.

People fell asleep in spite of being wet and weighted down by mud.

One Bielski partisan, Oppenheim, a man in his forties, was a talented locksmith. He came to the forest with his son from Novogródek ghetto.

All along Tuvia was sensitive to official and unofficial undercurrents and tried to use them to his and his advantage.

Kesler and his people remained

Like most charismatic leaders, Tuvia was spontaneous.5 He felt free to pursue an agenda that required him to save as many of the doomed Jews as possible. In addition to using his personal ties and diplomacy, Tuvia tried to counteract the negative

Mordechai Berkowitz, a blacksmith, established a workshop

one. But if hundreds of people enter at once then everyone sinks more deeply.