The Partisan Movement

The partisan movement refers to resistance groups and fighters who opposed occupying forces during World War II. Wide-scale partisan warfare was waged against the Germans in the occupied territories of the Soviet Union. The vast areas with thick forests and marshland were well-suited for partisan combat. What began with small, isolated groups of locals and Red Army soldiers eventually became an organized movement, with battalions and divisions, and a structured chain of command that received orders from the Soviet Union. Most of the partisan groups were hostile to Jews, especially if they had families or if they didn’t bring weapons with them. Consequently, there were only a limited number of commanders who accepted Jews into their ranks, and Jews organized their own units and created family camps whose purpose was rescue.

Violin of Mordechai (Motale) Shlain, who belonged to the “Diadia Misha” partisan unit in the Volhynia forests

From the online exhibition

Songs of the Partisans and Youth in the Vilna Ghetto

The songs presented in this exhibition were sung by the partisans of the Vilna ghetto, and call for revolt, revenge and victory. Three of them were based on Russian melodies. The song, Itsik Vitnberg was written and sung by Shmerke Kaczerginski.

Holocaust Survivor Testimonies: The Life of a Partisan

Alexander Bogen “A Fighters’ Meal”, 1943

The Pen and the Sword: Jewish Artist and Partisan, Alexander Bogen

"We, a group of 15 men and 3 women, young people, wandered through the woods, searching for the partisans. They guided us to a place where we could settle, and we began establishing the Jewish partisan camp… Night after night, we carried out operations, ambushing enemy forces, disarming German soldiers and local policemen… We hijacked trains, gradually acquiring weapons. By the end of 1942, our Jewish unit, the Utriad, had grown to about 250 people."
Zinaida Modric - Partisan

Reading Corner

Chana Azkut, partisan medic and member of the F.P.O. in Vilna

Jewish Partisans in Vilna

2 min.

Poland, three jewish partizan comanders at the partizan unit "Zhukov", after liboration, July 1944

The Partisans: Stories of Jews who Saved Jews

5 min.

Holocaust Lexicon

Partisans

5 min.

From the Online Exhibitions

Jewish Partisans from Monastir

"Monastir. The Story of a Jewish Sephardic Community in Macedonia"

Fanny Solomian

"Spots of Light - Women in the Holocaust": Partisans and Underground

Mirjam Waterman

"Spots of Light - Women in the Holocaust": Partisans and Underground

Ida Krayz (Pinkert)

"Remember Your New Name" - Surviving the Holocaust under a False Identity

Documentaries and Video Testimonies

March to Freedom: The story of Leon Rubin

"Another Day, Another Night": The story of Holocaust survivor Nahum Bogner

Holocaust Survivor Testimony: Baruch Shub

Holocaust Survivor Testimonies: In the ranks of the partisans (Mir, Belarus)

Holocaust Survivor Testimony: Zinaide Mudrik

Holocaust Survivor Testimony: Edith Drori

Spotlight

Jewish members of the FPO (United Partisan Organization) who escaped from the ghetto to the Rudniki Forest, returning to Vilna after liberation. Vilna, Poland, July 1944

Jewish Partisans in the Rudniki Forest

In the Rudniki forest, about 40 km south of Vilna, extensive partisan activity began in the summer of 1943 when a group of paratroopers under the command of Captain Alko arrived in the region.

This Month in Holocaust History

Partisans in the Vinnitsa District, Ukraine

January 1943

Hundreds of Jewish partisans were active in the forests near Vinnitsa. Some of them concealed their Jewish identity due to antisemitism.

This Month in Holocaust History

A Jewish Partisan in Southern France

August 1944

Founded in January 1942, the French Armée Juive (Jewish Army) smuggled hundreds of Jews to Spain and Switzerland and launched attacks against the German army in both the northern and southern parts of France.