Defiance Redux

I’ll preface this by saying that it has been five years since I read Peter Duffy’s The Bielski Brothers and I have yet to read (though I just received it yesterday and moved it to the top of the pile) Nechama Tec’s Defiance, the book Zwick used to base his movie of the same name on. So any factual errors are likely mine due to time, and not those of either author. Zwick’s are another matter.

As you know I had high anticipation for this movie. In some ways it was met, in more ways it was not.

If your intent is to see a movie about partisans killing Nazis and collaborators alike in desperate situations this is it. If you want to see a movie about small bands of men taking on and overcoming far superior forces this is it. If you want to see a movie about good versus evil, by all means see this movie.

But if you want to see the story of the Bielski Partisans then, yes, see this movie but please read the books.

Now before you begin throwing rotten produce understand that my wife and I LIKED THIS MOVIE. VERY MUCH. (I have to tell you, there were maybe 50 people in the audience and my wife and I, being 46 & 47 respectively, were by far the youngest ones in the theater. Which says skads about the state of America and where we’re headed.) Because as a partisan kills Nazi movie this is very good. But if you know even a little of the story of the Bielskis you will find much that isn’t there and should be.

First off Tuvia was a far more complex and charismatic man than portrayed here. In the film he often seems indecisive and unsure. He does not project the image of leader, no matter how long he sits on that white horse.

The brothers themselves were also far more ruthless. It was necessary for their survival. And the partisans also received far more Soviet army support than portrayed here. An what the devil is all this silliness about “forest wives”?

A bigger overall problem is the camps themselves. While the conditions were primitive and difficult to be sure, it misses the point that the Jews, though being hunted like animals, refused to give in. The Bielski camps were large. They had a Synagogue, bakery, tannery, metal workshop, school, slaughterhouse, shoemakers, tailor, leatherworkers and on and on. They had the sense of community the “intellectual” asked about and Tuvia talked about, once, briefly, from the back of the soon to be late white horse. But no evidence of that community AND IT WAS VITAL to the Otriads survival. Instead we get a little screenwriters lip service.

Part of the problem causing that is Zwick’s decision to end the story only 6 or 8 months into it, after they survive the first winter, with a “And they lived another 2 YEARS in the forest”

Well, those 2 years were pretty damned important as the group grew to over 1,200, continued partisan and resistance activities and built that community, a community from which now tens of thousands are descended. And throughout there were some very difficult times and close calls.

These are The Bielski Brothers.

These are not.

The thing that troubles me most, however (and maybe it’s just my take on it) is that, because of the way the film has been made IT PORTRAYS THE JEWS AS VICTIMS YET AGAIN.

NO! NO! NO! That misses the whole point of the Bielskis completely. These were people who chose NOT to be victims. Who chose to run, hide, yes, but also stand, fight and live on regardless of hardships. Who chose to survive no matter what it took or what anyone else thought of them. Who chose not to live like animals even though they were hunted as such.

But no. We get a couple skirmishes. A little bit of firearms training. A desperate flight to Krasnaya Gorka (the island, tank battle etc) which was far worse and more treacherous than portrayed. Some potato and turnip peeling. And an awful lot of time standing around in a soup line or forest looking pretty pathetic. Not doing much of anything, really. Except complaining. And forest wives worrying about their forest husbands.

Look, I said I liked this movie and I do. A lot. It has plenty going for it. Great cinematography. Plenty of action. Desperation. Poignant moments. Sad moments. Happy. Tense. I’d probably pay to go see it again and will definitely be first in line when the DVD comes out. But as a historical piece of the 3 great brothers, not so much. (Actually 4, young Aron’s part was bigger than even portrayed here).

I’m half Polish/Russian, descended from immigrants in the very early 1900’s. I had hoped to feel more pride of National heritage than I did here. Not that I didn’t feel any, just not as much as I thought I might. The way every Polish/Russian immigrant should feel when watching this.

I say Russian Polish because I have a copy of the ship’s manifest my ancestors came over on. (love what Ellis Island has done for records search) The manifest clearly states Russian next to my great great grandparent’s name. But the family has always maintained Polish. When you consider the shifting borders of the region ("ok, today you’re Polish, tomorrow Russian, next week Polish again and, oh, soon we’re going to try a new one on you Belorussian") combined with language barriers then ("I dunno, he sounds Russian to me") then it's not hard to understand the confusion.

But there’s another reason why I had hoped to feel more pride. In a second or third cousin 19 times removed sort of way.

And that’s the NAME entered on that ship’s manifest for my great great grandparents.

My mother’s maiden name. . .

BIELSKI.