Map of 'Jerusalem', the famed Bielski Partisan group's camp in the Naliboki Forest.

In December 1941, the Nazis murdered his parents and two of his brothers. He and his three surviving brothers, Aharon, Asael, and Zusya, fled along with 13 others into the forest. Tuvia then sent emissaries to the Jews in the Nowogrodek ghetto with the message to organize as many friends and acquaintances as possible and send them to Tuvia in the forest. At first, only eight people answered his call. But over the next two years, Tuvia Bielski’s group grew to over 1,000 as more Jews fled to the forests rather than report for deportation. Tuvia never turned away any Jew, insisting that resistance and rescue must go hand-in-hand.

As the Bielski’s forest camp grew, it eventually included a school for children, a clinic, a law court, and a synagogue. It also included numerous workshops, including a machine shop to repair weapons and a tannery. The camp became a mobile and dynamic Jewish community both a family camp and a fighting unit.

Tuvia Bielski’s partisans inspired terror in the Novogrodek region and took vengeance on the Belorussian police and on farmers who had betrayed or killed Jews. The Bielski brigade pillaged food, attacked the enemy, and destroyed supply depots. As a result, the Nazis offered a reward of 100,000 marks for Tuvia Bielski’s capture.