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.
In 1941, the small Polish town of Luboml fell under German occupation following Germany's attack on the Soviet Union. Among the 8,000 Jews in Luboml was 16-year old Sonia Orbuch, born Sarah Shainwald. Sarah would later change her name to conceal her Jewish identity so that she could join a non-Jewish partisan unit.
Approximate area of partisan activity for
Sonia and her family made contact with a nearby battalion of Russian partisans through the help of a sympathetic local peasant. Fortunately, Sonia's uncle Tzvi was a trained scout. The Russians needed his life-long knowledge of the surrounding terrain, and accepted the entire family into their group.
Sonia began her new life in the forest encampment that served as a base for missions of sabotage and resistance. Early on, Sonia was assigned to guard duty and provided first-aid on missions to mine enemy train tracks. With little training, Sonia learned the skills of a field-hospital aide, treating the wounds of injured partisans and using whatever makeshift supplies were available. To avoid possible torture and interrogation in the event of capture, Sonia carried two hand grenades, "One for the enemy, and one for myself" she explained.
Sonia had a suitor in the woods, a young Jewish reconnaissance officer. See a love letter written in Russian to Sonia in her Image Gallery. In 1944, Sonia and her parents faced the decision of either leaving the partisans or joining the Red Army. They decided to leave the partisans and took refuge in an abandoned house infected with typhus, a condition they were unaware of at the time. The typhus soon claimed Sonia's mother, leaving only Sonia and her father.
After the war, Sonia married Isaac Orbuch. Sonia moved to Northern California and had two children and one grandchild. She quietly reflected on the toll the war took on her family: "Was it possible for everybody to fight and get out to the forest and survive? No it wasn't. My brother did not survive, my uncle did not survive," she said. "Many other brothers and uncles could not survive. But every person in the ghetto fought in their own way."
In 2009 she published her autobiography entitled, Here, There Are No Sarahs. Sonia Orbuch passed away on September 30, 2018.
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.
