Defiance

Based on a true story, this film by Edward Zwick, traces the evolution of the Bielski Partisans, the largest and most successful Jewish resistance during World War II. The three Bielski brothers escape into the Naliboki Forest in Belarus after the Nazi Einsatzgruppen (special forces) sweep through Eastern Europe. The brothers create a  self-sustaining,  self-governing community of 1,200 Jewish refugees and organize a guerilla force to fight the Nazis. The eldest brother, Tuvia Bielski, assumes leadership of the survivors, but his brother longs to join the Russian resistance, even though the partisans don’t allow Jews to fight. The brothers must face wrenching decisions in their struggle to survive and reclaim dignity for their people in a region riven with anti-Semitism.