WEBVTT 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:06.000 Welcome to the Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation's "Resistance Basics" E-Learning course. 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:23.000 Our goal is that after you complete this class you'll have the knowledge and the tools to teach at least 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:29.000 one 45 to 60 minute class about Jewish resistance efforts during World War II. 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:32.000 This course is divided into 10 chapters. 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:39.000 The chapters are: Introduction/Goals, German-Soviet 1939 Non-Aggression Pact, 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:45.000 Jewish Ghettos and Camps, Different Types of Resistance, How Partisan Groups Began, 00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:50.000 What Partisan Groups Accomplished, Antisemitism in the Partisans, 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:57.000 and a Conclusion/Summary. 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:36.000 If you want to learn more, you can easily dig deeper into the JPEF website. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:39.000 You can skip topics you are already familiar with, 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:58.000 The most basic question students ask is: What were Jewish partisans? 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:04.000 Jewish partisans were armed resistance fighters behind enemy lines - guerilla fighters 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:09.000 during World War II. And they were significantly fewer in number than invading German forces. 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:20.000 They got supplies from wherever they could 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:24.000 often stealing weapons and materiel from the Germans. 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:36.000 And partisans relied on the local civilian population for food and other provisions, supplies, and intelligence. 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:42.000 Partisans also took what they needed from civilians when it was not freely given to them. 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:46.000 Their relationship to the civilians was complex on many levels. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:02.000 They sought to destroy strategic military targets and their operatives - not civilians. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:06.000 Approximately twenty to thirty thousand Jewish partisans spread across 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:17.000 Jewish partisans fought in Greece, Italy, and France in the southern part of Europe 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:29.000 To learn about partisans in specific areas of Europe, go to the Activity Map on the JPEF website, 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:32.000 and click on any country. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:39.000 Most Jewish partisans fought in Eastern Europe in the territories of Nazi-occupied Poland, Soviet Russia, and Lithuania 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:50.000 In 1939 there were approximately 3.3 million Jews in Poland. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:56.000 It is important to note that approximately three million Polish Jews were murdered by the end of the War. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:00.000 This is part of the context of the Jewish partisans. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:39.000 To ensure the Soviet Union wouldn't intercede when Germany invaded France and Poland, 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:48.000 Publically, Germany and the Soviet Union agreed not to attack each other, 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:03.000 And just that quickly, the two powers invaded and eastern Poland became part of the Soviet Union. 00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:10.000 Fortunately for Jews living there, life was easier than it was for those living in German-controlled Poland. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:14.000 While antisemitism was certainly part of the Russian culture, 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:27.000 children learned to speak Russian in schools and the economy was controlled by the communist system. 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:34.000 But that changed in the Summer of 1941 when Germany, secure in its dominance over much of Europe, 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:39.000 broke the non-aggression pact and stormed easily through Soviet-controlled Poland, 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:50.000 Others were captured and put into concentration camps. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:55.000 But there were hundreds of thousands of others who weren't captured or killed. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:10.000 Over time these former soldiers reorganized, realizing they could fight back against the Germans 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:19.000 and focused most of its troop strength storming Stalingrad. 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:26.000 These Red Army soldiers hiding behind German lines became the first partisans in this area. 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:33.000 A common question people ask is, "Why didn't the Jews resist?" 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:35.000 Consider the analogy of the frog and boiling water: Place a frog in boiling water and it fights with all of its strength to get out. 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:42.000 However, place the same frog in water at room temperature, and then slowly increase the water's temperature to boil. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:47.000 By the time the frog realizes that the water is boiling, it's too late. 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:56.000 Similarly, the Germans first forced people to boycott Jewish business. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:00.000 Then they took businesses away from the Jews and gave them to non-Jews. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:06.000 The Germans forced Jews from their homes, confining them in ghettos where dozens of people lived in homes 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:15.000 Herding the Jews into ghettos enabled the Germans to restrict the Jews in many ways. 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:22.000 Jews lost their freedom to move outside the ghettos. Germans blocked or slowed the flow of food and other supplies, 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:35.000 including their life savings and of course any weapons. 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:44.000 Nazis formed Jewish councils, or Judenrot, to communicate their needs to the population, and also to control them. 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:53.000 For example, through the Judenrot, the Germans demanded that the Jews turn over their valuables to help save themselves, 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:57.000 and warned there would be killings if the Jews didn't act quickly enough. 00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:03.000 And the Germans terrorized Jews with the policy of Collective Responsibility. 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:19.000 On June 30, 1943 in the Viyalavaka slave labor camp in Lithuania 67 Jews were killed because 6 escaped. 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:29.000 The Germans knew that Jewish community leaders, intellectuals, 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:43.000 The Germans planned to kill these men, something they never announced, 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:49.000 Rather the Germans put forth the pretense that these men were going to work camps, to reduce serious resistance. 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:54.000 Jews were used to hardships and state sponsored antisemitism. 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:56.000 For hundreds of years Jews were persecuted, 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:10.000 Also, it made no sense to the Jews that the Germans would murder their slave labor force 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:15.000 which also increased doubts the Germans would actually commit mass murder. 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:20.000 The Final Solution was taking effect. And German pretense continued. 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:27.000 At the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp, nearly a million Jews would be starved, murdered, 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:36.000 Yet even the sign above the gates was designed to mislead, 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:59.000 Even for Jews who considered resisting the Germans, it meant fighting the world's strongest army, 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:10.000 Armed resistance by civilians? It was a preposterous notion. 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:28.000 Jews did resist the Germans and their collaborators despite significant efforts to squelch such acts. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:43.000 spiritual resistance took a wide variety of forms, such as prayer services and teaching children to read Hebrew. 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:49.000 Artistic resistance produced art and poetry in ghettos and camps. 00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:59.000 Jewish smugglers sent children to safety. Jewish couriers carried messages between ghettos. 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:05.000 Forgers created documents to ensure Jews' safe passage to non-occupied countries, 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:20.000 Jews in forced-labor camps sabotaged uniforms, guns, and many other products they made for the Germans. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:26.000 Given that the Germans and their collaborators sought to strip all humanity and dignity away from the Jews, 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:34.000 the very ability to remain hopeful, to retain a sense of purpose and even a sense of humor was a defiant act. 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:37.000 Jokes were resistance. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:47.000 The woman cries, pleading that she is a widow and has a child to support. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:56.000 "The left one" the woman guesses. 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:58.000 "How did you know?" 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:02.000 "Because that one has the human look." 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:13.000 The paths to joining partisan groups were as varied as the types of resistance Jews devised. 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:17.000 Most Jews had no idea there were partisans groups to escape to. 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:27.000 and they sought hiding in forests surrounding the ghettos usually as the Germans liquidated them. 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:34.000 For more details of escapes during the liquidation of the ghettos, view the short biographies of Gertrude Boyarski, 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:46.000 Lisa Riebel has an incredible story of 250 Jews who escaped through a 750 foot tunnel 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:52.000 from a work camp in which more than 5,000 Jews were kept just one year before. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:57.000 These few hundred remaining people knew the Germans would soon kill them, 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:13.000 Frank Blaichman, on the other hand, left his village in Poland before it even became a ghetto. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:20.000 Frank ultimately helped organize an all Jewish group. 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:31.000 if only to hide from the Germans and their collaborators who would inevitably search for the escapees. 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:36.000 The forests and swamps of Eastern Europe and the mountains of France, Italy, and Greece 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:48.000 That's where escaping Jews headed, and that's where many partisans hid and established camps. 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:53.000 Non-Jewish partisan groups significantly outnumbered Jewish partisan groups. 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:56.000 So Jews typically wound up in non-Jewish groups. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:11.000 posed as a non-Jew as she took photographs for her Soviet partisan group. 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:16.000 Faye is the beautiful woman in the fur coat in this image. 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:22.000 Jews in the handful of all-Jewish partisan groups - including the famous Bielskis featured in the Edward Zwick film 'Defiance' 00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:56.000 Introduction to the Partisans, a JPEF film, 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:05.000 The film, narrated by Ed Asner and about 7 minutes long, 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:17.000 Ed Asner's first cousin Abe Asner is one of the partisans in our archives. 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:20.000 You'll see a picture of him on horseback in the film. 00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:48.000 Winter, 1942 was one of the coldest on record. January and February temperatures stayed below freezing nearly every day. 00:22:53.000 --> 00:23:01.000 They stole food or received it from peasants. And medical expertise and supplies were always in short supply. 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:12.000 The man never kept his appointments with Asner's group, making them walk hours each way only to be disappointed 00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:22.000 Asner's group eventually won a machine gun, a very valuable weapon, in battle. 00:27:27.000 --> 00:27:31.000 Antisemitism didn't just keep weapons from Jewish partisans. 00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:39.000 Frank Blaichman's group tried to buy food from a village's general store and townspeople chased the group off with pitchforks. 00:27:39.000 --> 00:27:45.000 For many Jews, a weapon was typically the cost of admission to non-Jewish partisan groups, 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:58.000 owning a weapon - or having the means to acquire one - was virtually impossible. 00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:03.000 Still, non-Jewish partisan leaders demanded that Jews bring weapons to the group. 00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:08.000 Though it required unarmed Jews to attack Germans and their collaborators, 00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:22.000 Sometimes, Jewish partisans were singled out for the most dangerous or difficult assignments in their units. 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:29.000 Martin Petrasek hid his Jewish identity from his non-Jewish Slovakian unit. For good reason, too. 00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:36.000 Another man known to be Jewish was ordered to carry a machinegun for many miles after a mission, 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:43.000 typically a duty that several partisans shared, and practically impossible for just one man to do. 00:28:43.000 --> 00:28:47.000 After two hours the man requested a rest break. 00:28:57.000 --> 00:29:01.000 In Southern Europe, antisemitism was less significant. 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:15.000 When his group realized he was Jewish they asked him, seriously, if he had horns - a common Jewish stereotype. 00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:22.000 After he showed them he was "hornless" that was the last time anyone mentioned his Jewish heritage, and he had no problems. 00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:31.000 Antisemitism was a catalyst for Jewish partisan units to form. And thousands of Jews were saved as a result. 00:29:31.000 --> 00:29:36.000 For more information, download the Antisemitism in the Partisans study guide 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:10.000 In Lithuania, according to historian Dove Levin, Jewish partisans, who were about ten percent of the partisan numbers 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:53.000 Most partisans deny that they survived because they were more courageous or heroic than others. 00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:57.000 They say they survived because they were luckier. 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:12.000 Gertrude Boyarski is one of many examples. Gertie as she prefers being called, lived in Derechin, Poland. 00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:20.000 Her father was a painter, a valuable skill the Germans desperately needed, but not one you would think would save lives. 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:27.000 So he could get to and from work more quickly, the Germans allowed him and his family to live outside the ghetto. 00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:32.000 One day after work he was on the family's back porch, which was next to the police station. 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:37.000 He overheard the police discussing plans to murder all the Jews that evening. 00:30:41.000 --> 00:30:50.000 Gertie and her family had luck, opportunity, and knowledge - the three common things that enable people to survive acts of genocide. 00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:57.000 This is important to discuss with your students, because partisan resistance can be easily glamorized, 00:30:57.000 --> 00:31:05.000 and people often forget just how luck played such a crucial factor in their success in the partisans and in their survival. 00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:14.000 It is important to note that many partisans, especially partisan leaders, had another similar attribute. They were risk-adverse. 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:17.000 We do not have time to get into this now, but to learn more, 00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:28.000 as well as a JPEF's Finding Leadership lesson plan. 00:43:31.000 --> 00:43:39.000 As I mentioned at the beginning of this course, most students studying the Holocaust ask, "Why didn't the Jews resist"? 00:43:39.000 --> 00:43:43.000 As you know now, the answer is very complicated and nuanced. 00:43:51.000 --> 00:43:59.000 It took just two Russian soldiers with machine guns to herd about 60 defeated German soldiers down a road. 00:43:59.000 --> 00:44:03.000 Even trained German soldiers who clearly outnumbered their captors 00:44:07.000 --> 00:44:13.000 Approximately 20,000 to 30,000 Jewish partisans resisted the Germans. 00:44:13.000 --> 00:44:19.000 Surviving for years in the wild, without proper clothing, shelter, or military training, 00:44:29.000 --> 00:44:33.000 Most importantly, so many survived, 00:44:41.000 --> 00:44:50.000 In fact, procreation perhaps might be one of the greatest ways the Jews resisted the genocide of the Germans. 00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:57.000 So, perhaps the question that should be asked is, under such impossible circumstances, 00:44:57.000 --> 00:45:01.000 how was there so much Jewish resistance to begin with? 00:45:01.000 --> 00:45:05.000 This is a topic well worth exploring with your students. 00:45:08.000 --> 00:45:17.000 The activities, stories, clips, and information included in this E-Learning course were designed to support your teaching efforts. 00:45:17.000 --> 00:45:21.000 We hope we successfully provided you with the necessary knowledge and resources 00:45:21.000 --> 00:45:27.000 to lead your students on an exploration of some of the basics of the Jewish partisans. 00:45:27.000 --> 00:45:30.000 Your feedback about this course is greatly appreciated. 00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:41.000 Your input will enable us to improve this, and help us improve future courses. 00:45:41.000 --> 00:45:48.000 Also, please feel free to tell us about new and creative ways you used our materials, or any other comments. 00:45:48.000 --> 00:45:54.000 To reach us, please email us at elearning@jewishpartisans.org. 00:45:54.000 --> 00:46:00.000 We hope you enjoyed the Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation's Resistance Basics E-Learning course. 00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:09.000 It was made possible by the generous support of the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, the JPEF Gevurah Society, and others. 00:46:09.000 --> 00:46:12.000 Thank You. 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:10.000 I'm Beth Deitchman, one of the JPEF educators. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:17.000 This class sets the context for how partisan groups, specifically Jewish groups, formed and what they accomplished. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:54.000 Luck, Knowledge, Opportunity, How to use in the Classroom, 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:31.000 Our E-Learning courses enable you to customize lessons to fit your needs and knowledge. 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:42.000 For instance, to skip this brief introduction, 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:18.000 They mostly escaped from ghettos or camps to join existing armed resistance groups but some formed their own units. 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:46.000 simply click on the drop down menu for the chapter now playing 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:29.000 Sometimes - but not often - Allied forces air dropped supplies to them. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:52.000 Partisans relied on hit and run tactics rather than conventional tactics 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:56.000 as their small numbers of weapons were no match for the Germans. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:08.000 As a result, this course focuses mostly on the experiences of Jewish partisans in Poland, Russia and Lithuania. 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:34.000 In 1939, Germany was already plotting its way to world-domination. 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:43.000 because that was where the largest populations of Jews lived before the war. 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:44.000 Germany engineered a non-aggression pact with the U.S.S.R.. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:22.000 The main changes to Jewish life under the Soviets included: 00:05:55.000 --> 00:06:02.000 Those soldiers got rid of their uniforms and weapons, and hid in thick forests and swamps to avoid German detection. 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:50.000 By the time European Jews realized what was happening, it was too late. 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:51.000 The frog is already too weak to flee and dies. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:25.000 so Jews starved due to sub-standard rations. 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:31.000 The Germans and their collaborators confiscated from Jews virtually everything of value, 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:10.000 that previously housed four or five people. 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:09.000 In response to those who tried escaping, they killed family members, friends or others in the community. 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:25.000 The Germans made this well known, further demoralizing Jews in nearby areas. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:00.000 from the Russian pogroms to the Spanish Inquisition, 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:04.000 many Jews felt they would survive the Germans as they had other oppressors. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:40.000 implying that the prisoners were actually entering a work camp. 00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:04.000 one that steamrolled through France and defeated the mighty Red Army in Poland. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:33.000 Without taking up arms, Jews stood in defiance of their persecutors many different ways. 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:36.000 In addition to the physical resistance, 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:53.000 Jews countered their oppressors in other ways as well. 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:12.000 and forgers created false identity cards that allowed Jews to "pass" as non-Jews. 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:54.000 The officer agrees not to take the things on one condition: that she guesses which of his eyes is artificial. 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:22.000 Those who escaped their ghettos saw the act as their only alternative 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:38.000 Mira Shelub, or Sonia Orbuch. 00:13:57.000 --> 00:13:59.000 and escape was their only option. 00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:05.000 JPEF has chronicled the story in A Partisan Returns, narrated by Tovah Feldshuh. 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:16.000 He believed he would be killed if he stayed. 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:25.000 Jews who escaped or who planned on escaping needed a destination, 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:42.000 had terrain that created havens with strategic and defensive advantages. 00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:01.000 But fierce antisemitism caused many Jews to hide their identities. 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:06.000 For instance, Faye Schulman, the only known Jewish partisan photographer, 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:28.000 were relieved of the constant fear of being killed or harassed by their fellow partisans. 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:24.000 Let's watch it now. To skip it , click on the "Skip video" button. 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:48.000 These are the images that come to mind when people think about the Jewish experience during the Holocaust. 00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:59.000 But these are not the only images, there were 20 to 30 thousand Jews formed organized 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:03.000 armed resistance groups all throughout Europe. 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:10.000 These little-known freedom fighters conducted thousands of acts of sabotage against their Nazi oppressors. 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.000 They were known as Jewish partisans. 00:17:23.000 --> 00:17:28.000 People did not go only like sheep to their deaths. 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:32.000 People were fighting every which way they can. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:37.000 I did my job the best I could. I was in many battles with the Germans face-to-face. 00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:41.000 Sometimes maybe a hundred feet away, 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:46.000 and bullets were flying all the sides. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:49.000 Luckily, I survived. 00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:58.000 I see a German column marching to us, we ambushed them. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:04.000 The partisans fought for freedom for a better tomorrow, a better future. 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:12.000 And they fought in order not to be eliminated by the Germans, against the Germans. 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:18.000 Jewish partisans were responsible for the liberation of thousands of Jews trapped in ghettos, 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:21.000 saving them from annihilation. 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:28.000 I started to organize an escape, I had 55 people said they were willing to escape. 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:33.000 From the 55, 30 were killed. 00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:36.000 25 made it into the woods. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:40.000 Without the forest we couldn't survive. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:45.000 The trees, the sky, the pine needle ground, were our summer home. 00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:49.000 the underground hut was our winter home. 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:51.000 We were dealing with friendly and unfriendly persons. 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:58.000 The friendly persons supported us, with food and with ammunition. 00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:06.000 The unfriendly person had no choice, we would get in at night, pick up the prepared food orders 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:11.000 that were prepared for the Germans and leave receipts "The partisans were here." 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:15.000 The moon was our biggest enemy because if there was a moon night, 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:17.000 because in day we couldn't go and night, 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:25.000 if there was moonlight night we couldn't move, so the night, blizzard, 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:32.000 heavy snow, heavy rain, this was our friends. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:46.000 We were interested in getting involved in sabotage acts to interrupt and disrupt 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:52.000 the communication and transportation to the front. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:58.000 We attacked a depot. We hit the guard and got ammunition. 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:01.000 We blew up the train depot. 00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:06.000 We could see the Germans there and I could recognize the Germans that I wanted to kill. 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:13.000 who killed my friend and they started to shoot towards us 00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:16.000 but they we shot they shot only from revolvers 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:20.000 they were not prepared, they did not have rifles, they did not have machine guns. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:25.000 We over powered them, little by little their shooting stopped. 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:33.000 We had to blow up a train and we were sitting in the background and waiting till the train approached, 00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:36.000 and some of the Germans got killed. 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:42.000 It is the same to Jews as to Americans who started the Revolutionary War. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:44.000 and it's heroes, right? 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:49.000 People put their chest in front of English muskets to build a country. 00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:55.000 We put our chests in front of German muskets to defend ourselves from annihilation 00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:58.000 and maybe prevent the deaths of other Jews. 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:04.000 If I was going to get killed, I was going to get killed as a fighter. 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:06.000 Not because I am a Jew. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:11.000 I survived for two legacies, for revenge, and for telling the story. 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:15.000 Revenge for my father and telling the story for my mother. 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:20.000 So if I had the chance, and if I looked for resistance, 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:23.000 this was the most important thing for me 00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:28.000 and I didn't care if I would be killed, if I wouldn't be killed, I had to do it. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:33.000 There is such a thing as fighting back, this is the way I think. 00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:37.000 That's why I'm sitting here to give you the interview. 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:41.000 Why else would I do it? I want people to know that we were fighting. 00:21:56.000 --> 00:22:00.000 This is the hymn of Jewish partisans 00:23:01.000 --> 00:23:06.000 Faye Schulman's group's doctor was actually a veterinarian. 00:22:31.000 --> 00:22:39.000 Partisans also had to live in the harshest of conditions in primitive shelters in the forests and mountains. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:53.000 Partisans built shelters in the forest with stolen materials and timber they found. 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:09.000 For more information about living and surviving in the partisans, 00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:18.000 You can also watch four short films on the subject, 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:21.000 each runs four minutes, and Larry King narrates. 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:27.000 Still, even with these difficulties, Jews joined or formed partisan groups 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:32.000 and became a great threat to the Germans and their collaborators. 00:23:43.000 --> 00:23:49.000 focusing their attention on military and strategic targets, not on civilians. 00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:58.000 Shalom Yoran, has a great clip appropriately titled "Why Partisans Blow Up Trains" that gives you a first hand perspective. 00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:18.000 One German commander called Jewish partisans "a dangerous element" 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:30.000 Jewish partisans, though mainly in non-Jewish groups, fought for different reasons than their non-Jewish counterparts. 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:38.000 In some countries, like Lithuania, non-Jewish partisans could literally go home occasionally to visit family and loved ones. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:40.000 The Jews had no home to go to. 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:45.000 And in many cases, nearly all their family and loved ones were murdered. 00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:50.000 They fought, not only to get the Germans out of their country, 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.000 and to end the war, but also for revenge. 00:24:54.000 --> 00:25:00.000 For additional perspectives on this, please see the partisan video testimonials here. 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:27.000 Then a non-Jewish group took it because they felt the Jews didn't deserve the weapon. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:52.000 But for those who escaped from ghettos with only the clothes on their backs, 00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:12.000 and though it most often ended in death for Jews who attempted the attacks, 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:15.000 success still didn't guarantee entry. 00:28:47.000 --> 00:28:52.000 The commander grabbed the machine gun and said, "That's exactly what I can expect from a Jew" 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:57.000 The man was later executed for "disobeying" orders. 00:29:01.000 --> 00:29:06.000 Harry Burger fought in Northern Italy as part of a non- Jewish group. 00:29:57.000 --> 00:30:04.000 They also admit that they had opportunities and knowledge that other people didn't have that helped them survive. 00:30:37.000 --> 00:30:41.000 Within moments Gertie and her family were running to the forest. 00:31:17.000 --> 00:31:24.000 please read other JPEF bios about partisan leaders listed in the Notes section throughout this e-learning module. 00:43:43.000 --> 00:43:51.000 One Jewish partisan said that at the end of the war he was with a Russian army unit that captured hundreds of German soldiers. 00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:35.000 Please take a few minutes to fill out this brief evaluation of this course. 00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.000 There are many ways to use JPEF materials in your classroom. 00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:41.000 The fact that 20,000 to 30,000 Jews fought back in partisan units will be very engaging for your students, 00:31:41.000 --> 00:31:45.000 because it goes against stereotypes of Jewish passivity during the Holocaust. 00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:50.000 On the JPEF website you will find a great deal of material you can share with your students, 00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:58.000 including over 40 partisan profiles with primary source video testimonials, photographs and short biographies, 00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:08.000 a library of JPEF short documentary films narrated by Ed Asner, Larry King, Tovah Feldshuh, and Lieb Shrieber, 00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:21.000 JPEF's blog to keep you updated with new curricula, teaching tips, and articles, 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:35.000 We encourage you to explore our website to familiarize yourself with the online resources 00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:41.000 - all of them can be used in class - and to download materials from JPEF's Resist curriculum. 00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:46.000 You can download them for free by going to the Teach tab on the JPEF website. 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:52.000 Since you already registerd on JPEF's website to access our e-learning modules, 00:32:55.000 --> 00:33:02.000 The JPEF site will remember your username and password on the same computer, because we write a cookie on your computer. 00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:05.000 If you use another computer or block cookies on your web browser, 00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:07.000 you will need to sign on again. 00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:13.000 The JPEF site will also send you your password if you forget it. 00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:21.000 Nearly all of the individual guides, lessons, and activities are designed to be completed within a single class period, 00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:24.000 though there is enough material to cover many hours of discussion, 00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:29.000 particularly if you combine lessons or supplement them with our online resources. 00:33:29.000 --> 00:33:36.000 The site and the curriculum are designed to help you pick the material that best fits your classroom's needs. 00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:44.000 In addition to the guides and biographies, we also offer several engaging lesson plans that use the Jewish partisans as a lens 00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:49.000 for exploring history, heroism, ethics, Jewish values, and leadership. 00:33:49.000 --> 00:33:57.000 For example, Finding Leadership explores distinctions between leadership as an activity and authority as a role. 00:33:57.000 --> 00:34:04.000 This lesson challenges students to rethink assumptions about leadership, power, and responsibility. 00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:08.000 It also encourages students to exercise initiative in their social groups, 00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:14.000 realizing that one does not have to be designated THE leader to exert leadership in a group, 00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:18.000 through looking at specific Jewish partisans in the guide. 00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:24.000 The ethics of war is based on an actual meeting between two Jewish partisan groups in the forest 00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:30.000 and teaches through a short play that can be read in class without rehearsal or preparation. 00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.000 At the end of the play students are asked to stand in two different parts of the classroom 00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:41.000 signifying which decision they would make, continue fighting the Germans, or wait out the end of the war outside of Vilna, 00:34:41.000 --> 00:34:46.000 then try to convince members of the other group to join them. 00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:52.000 Each lesson plan includes step-by-step instructions for setting up and running the activities in your class, 00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:57.000 plus thought-provoking worksheets and resources for you to hand out. 00:34:57.000 --> 00:35:00.000 Most lessons require very little time to prepare 00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:05.000 all you need to do is download the lesson, review it, and print the handouts. 00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.000 Then set up the AV and you're ready to go. 00:35:09.000 --> 00:35:17.000 JPEF has also produced many short films based on over fifty interviews with surviving Jewish partisans from around the world, 00:35:17.000 --> 00:35:21.000 and include archival photos and film footage. 00:35:29.000 --> 00:35:37.000 The films run between three and twenty-one minutes and are narrated by Larry King, Ed Asner, and Tovah Feldshuh. 00:35:21.000 --> 00:35:29.000 To view the films just roll over the Teach or Explore tabs on the website and select Films from the drop down menu. 00:35:29.000 --> 00:35:33.000 You can also order a DVD of all our short films. 00:35:33.000 --> 00:35:37.000 Click the link on the right for more information. 00:35:37.000 --> 00:35:45.000 It's best to start your lessons on the Jewish partisans with JPEF's six minute short film Introduction to the Jewish Partisans. 00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:51.000 If you can't show the film, you can use our downloadable study guide of the same name. 00:35:51.000 --> 00:35:56.000 Some lessons also contain enough information to familiarize your students with the main points 00:35:56.000 --> 00:36:02.000 however, hearing the first-person testimonials and seeing the archival footage 00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:15.000 After watching a JPEF film, many students are curious to learn more about the people whose testimonies they just saw. 00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:21.000 You can guide them through the JPEF archives of partisan interviews and primary sources. 00:36:21.000 --> 00:36:25.000 Ask students which partisan's testimonial they found most moving or intriguing, 00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.000 and then dive in to the website to learn more about that partisan. 00:36:29.000 --> 00:36:37.000 For instance, many students are impressed with Sonia Orbuch's eloquent retelling of and reflections on her experiences 00:36:37.000 --> 00:36:40.000 from Introduction to the Jewish Partisans. 00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:47.000 Students can access Sonia's profile which includes a short biography, images, and video clips 00:36:47.000 --> 00:36:53.000 by going to the JPEF partisan's page, find her name on the list of partisans, and click it 00:36:53.000 --> 00:36:58.000 to open a short 350 word biography on Sonia, with a map and archival photographs. 00:36:58.000 --> 00:37:03.000 To watch selected excerpts from her testimonial, click on the Video tab 00:37:03.000 --> 00:37:08.000 and choose from several intriguingly titled clips on the left. 00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:12.000 Many teachers simply ask students which title looks most interesting 00:37:12.000 --> 00:37:16.000 in this case let's view Die as a Fighter not as a Jew. 00:37:16.000 --> 00:37:22.000 As it plays, click on the box on the lower right to expand the full screen video. 00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:26.000 To get out of full screen, use the escape key. 00:37:26.000 --> 00:37:30.000 To view the transcript from the video excerpts, which you can also print, 00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:35.000 Click on the video transcripts link on the bottom right of the window. 00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:40.000 You can also use original documents from specific partisans to engage your students. 00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:47.000 For instance, you can read the English translation of a love letter to Sonia from a Jewish soldier in her partisan group. 00:37:47.000 --> 00:37:53.000 Go to the Images tab and scroll down to the handwriting in the thumbnail image 00:37:53.000 --> 00:37:56.000 then click on the image to open it. 00:37:56.000 --> 00:37:58.000 Since there is so much text, you might want to print it. 00:37:58.000 --> 00:38:03.000 Do that by clicking on the Print icon on the lower right. 00:38:03.000 --> 00:38:05.000 Here is my favorite part of the letter 00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:10.000 scroll to the text that reads, "It was too bad your mother had to intervene" 00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:13.000 this is why I like that part: 00:38:13.000 --> 00:38:17.000 many partisans, such as Sonia, were teenagers, just like many of your students. 00:38:17.000 --> 00:38:22.000 Even though their circumstances were nothing like your students will ever experience, 00:38:22.000 --> 00:38:26.000 partisans had universal teenage needs and wants. 00:38:26.000 --> 00:38:33.000 The story of the Jewish partisans in some ways is a story of young people who stood up and made a difference. 00:38:33.000 --> 00:38:39.000 So sharing some of these insightful archival images and video clips with your students 00:38:39.000 --> 00:38:42.000 is another meaningful way to engage them. 00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:50.000 You can also print or email the short partisan biographies we feature by clicking on the Email or Print icons on the bottom right. 00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:56.000 The biographies include photographs and maps of the approximate area where they were active, 00:38:56.000 --> 00:39:00.000 information small groups or individual students can work with. 00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:07.000 The short biographies offer several ways for students to learn about different partisans through class activities. 00:39:07.000 --> 00:39:12.000 When you open a bio, simply click on the Print icon, 00:39:12.000 --> 00:39:16.000 break your class into small groups, and assign one partisan print out to each group. 00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:20.000 Post questions about partisans for the group to answer 00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:26.000 and then have each group report back to the class after about 10 minutes of discussion within their own groups. 00:39:26.000 --> 00:39:32.000 You can do the same activity with partisan photographs and original documents as well. 00:39:32.000 --> 00:39:35.000 For additional introductory information on the partisans, 00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:43.000 under the Explore tab. 00:39:43.000 --> 00:39:48.000 There are two other ways to access the partisan biographies besides the JPEF Partisans page 00:39:48.000 --> 00:39:55.000 The partisan activity map shows ten countries in which there was Jewish partisan activity. 00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:57.000 They are bolded on the map. 00:39:57.000 --> 00:40:05.000 To examine a specific country, simply click on it and you will the approximate area of Jewish partisan activity highlighted in yellow. 00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:12.000 A brief description of Jewish partisans in that country is available and by clicking on View Partisans from this Country 00:40:12.000 --> 00:40:17.000 you will see all of JPEF's partisans from the area. 00:40:17.000 --> 00:40:20.000 You can then click on a partisan that interests you. 00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:26.000 Someone Like Me lets your students choose aspects about themselves, such as if their parents are strict, 00:40:26.000 --> 00:40:31.000 or if they are a picky eater and compare those answers to those from JPEF's partisans. 00:40:31.000 --> 00:40:35.000 This is a unique and engaging way to show your students 00:40:39.000 --> 00:40:41.000 A note about JPEF partisans: 00:40:49.000 --> 00:40:52.000 and whose experiences our staff felt were representative. 00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:58.000 There are many people, including many partisans of great historical significance, who are not listed. 00:40:41.000 --> 00:40:49.000 The partisans JPEF contacted were people who were accessible for an on-camera interview with the organization 00:40:58.000 --> 00:41:03.000 Over time we hope to add to our archive of partisan testimonials 00:41:03.000 --> 00:41:09.000 The virtual underground bunker shows a 3D model of what a partisan bunker looked like 00:41:09.000 --> 00:41:15.000 based on our work with Shalom Yoran, Jewish partisan from Poland, and writer of 'The Defiant'. 00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:20.000 There are lots of details in the bunker known as a Zemlyanka in Russian 00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:25.000 to explore, as well as excerpts from 'The Defiant' read by Larry King, 00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:33.000 The motion picture 'Defiance' starring Daniel Craig, which JPEF was a consultant on, has its own page on the JPEF site 00:41:33.000 --> 00:41:38.000 where you can access all Bielski partisans on the site, view a Q and A with director Edward Zwick and 00:41:38.000 --> 00:41:45.000 writer Clayton Frohman, watch the film's trailer, and even download a poster of Zus Belski. 00:41:55.000 --> 00:42:01.000 We believe that teaching about the life lessons of the Jewish partisans is just as important as teaching about their history 00:42:01.000 --> 00:42:07.000 We asked many of the Jewish partisans we interviewed what life-lessons they felt should be transmitted 00:42:07.000 --> 00:42:09.000 to future generations. 00:42:09.000 --> 00:42:11.000 Three things stood out: 00:42:11.000 --> 00:42:14.000 Young people can make a difference. 00:42:14.000 --> 00:42:18.000 Stand up to tyranny, oppression, and discrimination early. 00:42:18.000 --> 00:42:21.000 And never give up. 00:42:21.000 --> 00:42:24.000 Share these with your students, and see if they agree. 00:42:26.000 --> 00:42:28.000 Finally, when teaching about the Jewish partisans, 00:42:28.000 --> 00:42:31.000 there is a great deal of information to cover. 00:42:31.000 --> 00:42:37.000 At times, it can be overwhelming to know what to include. Particularly when class time is short. 00:42:37.000 --> 00:42:44.000 No matter what you teach, we believe that five things are crucial for your students to accurately understand the topic. 00:42:44.000 --> 00:42:47.000 Number one: Resistance took many forms. 00:42:53.000 --> 00:42:58.000 Number two: Students should come away with knowledge of the approximate number of Jewish partisans in Europe 00:42:58.000 --> 00:43:02.000 and their specific accomplishments and effectiveness. 00:43:02.000 --> 00:43:08.000 Number three: They should understand the differences between Jewish and non-Jewish partisan units. 00:43:08.000 --> 00:43:16.000 Number four: They should know that luck, opportunity, and knowledge were what Jewish partisans said helped them to survive, 00:43:16.000 --> 00:43:18.000 not courage or heroism. 00:43:18.000 --> 00:43:25.000 And number five: Students should have an appreciation of the life-lessons of the Jewish partisans. 00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:31.000 Please make sure to emphasize these five key points anytime you teach about the Jewish partisans. 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:46.000 and then attacked Russia. Germany killed hundreds of thousands of Red Army soldiers. 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:40.000 Jewish partisans committed thousands of acts of sabotage, significantly impeding the Nazi war effort. 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:43.000 The partisans attacked supply trains and train routes. Partisans also destroyed power plants and factories 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:06.000 The partisans' actions caused Germans to spend precious resources in territories they already occupied. 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:13.000 In Eastern Europe, partisans forced Germans to divert troops they would have otherwise used in the invasion of the Soviet Union. 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:19.000 destroyed more than 70 percent of railcars. It gives one pause why Jewish partisans fought so hard to damage trains. 00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:23.000 This is a question you can discuss with your students. 00:25:23.000 --> 00:25:30.000 Their traditional role as caregivers for their families made it doubly difficult for women to leave their loved-ones to join the partisans. 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:35.000 And sexism also played a role preventing women from joining as well. 00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:41.000 Sonia Orbuch's older brother planned with a group of friends to escape the ghetto and join a partisan group. 00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:49.000 Orbuch's mother begged him to take his sister, but he resisted saying "no girls allowed." 00:25:49.000 --> 00:25:55.000 Women without the benefit of a male sponsor had an even more difficult time joining partisan groups 00:25:55.000 --> 00:26:00.000 For more information, review the Women in the Partisans page on the JPEF website 00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:11.000 The Women in the Partisans E-Learning module is also a good resource. 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:19.000 Under ordinary circumstances, the enemy of your enemy is your friend. 00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:23.000 so you'd expect that partisan groups cooperated with each other through their common bond, 00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:33.000 But in Eastern Europe, because of decades of state-sponsored antisemitism and centuries of persecution, 00:26:33.000 --> 00:26:36.000 the Jews' circumstances were far from ordinary. 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:41.000 Plus, because of antisemitic laws preventing Jews from owning land, 00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:48.000 most Jewish partisans were raised in cities, not the forest and farmlands they hid in and fought in. 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:52.000 Lacking links to the countryside posed a serious challenge. 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:58.000 Plus, rural populations were even more antisemitic than urban ones. 00:26:58.000 --> 00:27:04.000 Abe Asner's group once tried to buy weapons from a man in a small Polish village. 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:15.000 and more importantly, without weapons to fight the Germans with. 00:44:33.000 --> 00:44:41.000 and hundreds of thousands of people - children, grandchildren, and great grand children - are alive today because of it. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:14.000 who mostly ignored the newly occupied territory as a major military threat 00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:34.000 and men from 18 to 40 years old posed the greatest resistance threat to them. 00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:11.000 is made from JPEF's archive of over 40 original interviews with surviving partisans. 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:13.000 please review JPEF's study guide of the same name in the downloads section. 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:22.000 and was worried about their effect on the overall German war effort. 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:05.000 which has films, study guides, and all of JPEF's women biographies. 00:26:23.000 --> 00:26:25.000 overthrowing the occupying Germans. 00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:48.000 while non-Jews could join without weapons. 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:41.000 and watch the film with the same title, narrated by Larry King. 00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:15.000 over 15 printable lessons, study guides, and partisan biographies, hundreds of video clips and photographs, 00:36:02.000 --> 00:36:07.000 has a much more powerful impact than written words can convey. 00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:40.000 you and your students can go to the What is a Jewish Partisan section on the JPEF website 00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.000 that they may have more in common with the partisans than they would have ever thought. 00:44:03.000 --> 00:44:07.000 did not resist when they were under the threat of a better armed opponent. 00:44:18.000 --> 00:44:29.000 Jewish partisans overcame incredible odds to strike back at their oppresors, rescue thousands of Jews, and help defeat the Nazis. 00:42:47.000 --> 00:42:53.000 The armed resistance of the partisans was only one type of Jewish resistance during the Holocaust. 00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:55.000 you are also registered to download our printed materials. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:43.000 to reduce the ability for ghetto inhabitants to organize. 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:22.000 to Poland, Lithuania, Russia, and other regions of the Soviet Union further north. 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:18.000 it wasn't nearly as severe as that found in German-controlled areas. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:01.000 is a good way to learn more about the Jewish partisans by hearing firsthand experiences. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:53.000 below the e-learning video screen and choose "German/Soviet Non-Aggression Pact". 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:12.000 at least 10 Nazi-occupied territories in Europe, fighting the Germans. 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:02.000 During this training, we'll occasionally pause to ask questions related to the content. 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:06.000 We designed our e-learning modules this way to increase retention. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:12.000 You will need to get least 80% correct to receive a printable certificate of completion 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:16.000 that can be applied towards free CEUs. 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:21.000 In many cases, you will be able to qualify for professional development credits as well. 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:25.000 Click the link on the right for more information. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:13.000 A quick note: Though Russia was a distinct entity within the Soviet Union, 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:18.000 it was common at the time of the war for many, including many partisans we interviewed, 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:25.000 to refer to the two interchangeably. We will occasionally do so as well during this course. 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:56.000 but the pact also contained a secret provision stating that the two countries would split Poland roughly in half. 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:38.000 The short answer to this question is: They did. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:44.000 Contrary to the myth of sheep to the slaughter, the misperception that Jews went willingly to their deaths, 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:50.000 there were literally millions of acts of resistance, most of them nonviolent. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:57.000 At the 1942 Wannsee Conference of senior Nazi officials, the German government detailed a secret campaign 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:03.000 to murder every Jew in Europe, the so-called 'Final Solution'. 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:10.000 The Nazis knew that if they broadcast their true intentions, the Jewish people would be more likely to rise up en masse. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:19.000 Instead, the Germans started by slowly and deliberately taking away their rights, businesses, and even food and water. 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:26.000 By the time European Jews realized what was happening, it was too late. 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:32.000 worked to death, or sent to perish in the nearby Birkenau death camp. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:45.000 The sign said, "Arbeit macht frei", meaning "Work will set you free" - 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:54.000 a lie repeated at the gates of Dachau, Sachsenhausen, and other camps to mollify the prisoners and reduce resistance. 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:20.000 The Germans sought to strip Jews of their lives, their dignity, and their self-respect. 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:42.000 A police officer comes into a Jewish home to confiscate the possessions. 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:34.000 A key factor in the Belskis' success was that the three brothers who led the group 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:38.000 had military experience prior to the German invasion, 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:44.000 important training that only a small percentage of Jews who became partisans had. 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:47.000 You can find out more in our Teaching with 'Defiance' course, 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:53.000 which shows you haow to use excerpts from the film starring Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber in your classroom. 00:29:41.000 --> 00:29:47.000 You can also take our Antisemitism in the Partisans e-learning module from the Courses page. 00:32:21.000 --> 00:32:28.000 interactive maps, a virtual underground bunker, a discussion with the 'Defiance' filmmakers, and more. 00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:49.000 JPEF has extensive resources for using the film 'Defiance' in your classroom, 00:41:49.000 --> 00:41:55.000 see our Teaching with 'Defiance' e-learning course for more information.