Many Jewish partisans in Eastern Europe lived in underground bunkers called zemlyankas (Russian for "dugout"): small, primitive shelters that provided a living and hiding space, sometimes for dozens of people, even through freezing winters.
Click and drag in the window below to explore a virtual model of Shalom Yoran's zemlyanka that he built and lived in with four other men in the winter of 1942.
1937 borders. Approximate areas of Jewish partisan activity marked in yellow.
Approximately 30,000 Jews throughout Eastern and Western Europe -- many of them teens -- fought back during the Holocaust as Jewish partisans.
During World War II, approximately 30,000 Jews throughout Eastern and Western Europe -- many of them teens -- fought back against the Germans and their collaborators as Jewish partisans. They were men and women from a variety of backgrounds.
Romi Cohn was born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia on March 10, 1929. He was only ten years old when Germany invaded his country in 1938. When mass deportations of Jews from Slovakia began in 1942, his family was granted an 'economic exception' and allowed to stay. However, as the war dragged on, they realized that their position was becoming dangerous. Romi was eventually smuggled over the border into Hungary.
Approximate area of partisan activity for
Eventually, Romi was arrested on suspicion of carrying false documents and, after a daring escape, he decided to join the partisans hiding in the mountains. To reach the mountains, Romi forged a German military travel order, sending him to the last German outpost before partisan-controlled territory. "[The Germans] all shook my hand and wished me luck. They thought I was going to go strike a blow for the Reich," Romi remembered. By the time he joined the partisans, the Germans were already in retreat. Romi's brigade drove them back westward while capturing, interrogating, and executing SS officers. When Hungary was liberated, Romi returned to Czechoslovakia. Romi wrote a book about his wartime experiences, entitled The Youngest Partisan.
On January 29, 2020, in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Romi delivered the opening prayer before the United States House of Representatives and shared his story of resistance and resilience as a Jewish partisan.
Rabbi Romi Cohn passed away on March 24, 2020. He was 91 years old.
Engage and inspire your youth with these free, ready-to use materials for teaching History, Leadership, Ethics and Jewish Values through the life lessons of Jews who fought back during the Holocaust. Designed for 6th-12th grade History, English, Social Studies, Holocaust/Genocide and Jewish Studies classrooms and informal settings (youth groups, summer camps, etc.). Most materials can be completed in 45-60 minutes.
Watch short documentary films narrated by Ed Asner, Tova Feldshuh, Larry King, and Liev Schreiber made from from a collection of 50 original interviews with surviving Jewish partisans shot all over the world.
JPEF's Defiance Multimedia Curriculum, developed in cooperation with the film makers. Engage your students in critical thinking about History, Leadership, Ethics, and Jewish Values with JPEF's multimedia curriculum on teaching with the film.
Born in Poland in 1924, Faye Schulman received her first camera from her brother when she was 13. That camera ultimately saved her life and allowed her to document Jewish partisan activity later. As a result, she is one of the only known Jewish partisan photographers.
Schulman's rare collection of images captures the camaraderie, horror, loss, bravery, and triumph of the rag-tag, resilient partisans—some Jewish, some not—who fought the Germans and their collaborators.
During World War II approximately thirty thousand Jews escaped ghettos and work camps and formed organized armed resistance groups to fight the Nazis. These groups were known as partisans. Despite the odds, women were able to join the partisans. Their work in the partisan camps ranged from domestic duties such as cleaning cooking and nursing, to reconnaissance, weapons transport, as well as armed combat. Women made up approximately 10% of the partisans.
