The Heroic Story Of The Three Brothers Who Save The Lives Of Their Fellow Jews.

The Heroic Story Of The Three Brothers Who Save The Lives Of Their Fellow Jews.

The Heroic Story Of The Three Brothers Who Save The Lives Of Their Fellow Jews.

The Heroic Story Of The Three Brothers Who Save The Lives Of Their Fellow Jews.

After the Germans killed their parents and siblings in December 1941, three surviving brothers—Tuvia, Asael, and Zus Bielski—formed a partisan group that operated in the dense forest of German-occupied Poland (today Belarus).

At first, the brothers focused on saving themselves and their remaining family members. But over the course of the war, the Bielski partisans would help protect some 1,200 of their fellow Jews. check comment for more details.

Under Tuvia's leadership, the partisans began to encourage Jews in the nearby ghettos to escape and join their group, even sending guides to help escort them.

In the forest, the group established a thriving community. Workshops employed over 200 people, including tailors, carpenters, and blacksmiths.

The partisan leaders also managed a primitive infirmary, a school for the children, and a synagogue. This vibrant forest community helped recreate a sense of Jewish community that the Nazis aimed to destroy.

The partisans also fought against the Nazis by disabling German trains and blowing up bridges, even as they were hunted. However, their primary mission was to save as many Jews as possible.

Despite opposition from within the group, Tuvia remained determined to accept and protect all Jews, regardless of age or gender. The Bielski partisans are now known for instituting one of the most successful rescue efforts of the Holocaust.

After the war, Tuvia and Zus immigrated to Palestine, and later settled in the United States. Asael was drafted into the Soviet Army and died on the front in February 1945.

Pictured here are Jewish partisans from the Grynszpan unit in German-occupied eastern Europe.

Leo Ullman was just a toddler when he went to live with strangers in the hopes of evading the Nazis in the Netherlands.

When they agreed to take him in, Hendrik and Jannigje Schimmel, a retired policeman and his wife, knew only that Leo was a Jewish boy who needed help. For more than two years, they treated him like a son.

When Leo's parents arrived on the doorstep unannounced one day, the boy, then five, did not recognize them or remember that he had had other parents before the war.

The Schimmels loved Leo and were committed to making his transition back to life with his parents as easy as possible. The two couples who had never met worked together.

The Schimmels gave Leo their dog, Ruffie, whom he had come to adore. Hendrik Schimmel also walked Leo to school nearly every day just so that he could see Leo.

Leo remained close to the Schimmels, whom he refers to as his "war parents." Watch live at 1:30 p.m. ET on Facebook tomorrow, June 12, Anne Frank's birthday, to hear about Leo's experience as a hidden child in Amsterdam.