AllMovie

The inspirational true story behind Edward Zwick's 2008 drama Defiance, The Bielski Brothers tells the remarkable tale of Tuvia, Asael, and Zus Beilski, three brothers from the Soviet Republic of Belorussia who constructed an elaborate, hidden village for rescued Jews during World War II. The darkness of the Holocaust infecting their land with misery and despair, the Bielski brothers chose to stand up against Hitler's forces by rescuing as many Jews as possible, and working to ensure that they didn't perish in concentration camps. In order to achieve this, the Bielski's and their fellow Jews built a fully functional village in the woods, complete with a bakery, synagogue, communal bath, and even a theater company. Although they occasionally mounted guerilla attacks against the Nazis, the Bielski brothers' primary goal was to save as many Jews as possible. Yet despite saving over 1,200 men, women, and children (the largest rescue of Jews by Jews during the conflict), their story has largely gone untold until now.