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Holocaust Exhibit Honors The Heroes In The Woods

Tribune photo by CHRIS URSO

Phyllis Davidson, a docent at the Florida Holocaust Museum, looks at an exhibit Sunday in St. Petersburg.

By SARAH HOYE

shoye@tampatrib.com

Published: November 23, 2008

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ST. PETERSBURG - Brendon Rennert has fond memories of an old photograph that hung on the wall in his grandparents' home in Brooklyn. In it, a small group of men and women, some with rifles and wearing military jackets, huddled together in a forest and stared into the camera lens.

Today that photograph hangs inside the Florida Holocaust Museum as part of a new exhibit, "Courage and Compassion: The Legacy of the Bielski Brothers." The exhibit showcases the heroic efforts of Rennert's grandfather, Tuvia Bielski, and two of his younger brothers, Zus and Asael, who helped save more than 1,200 Jews during World War II.

"My grandfather and his brothers were ordinary men who did extraordinary things. ... Passing them on the street you would not know they were heroes," said Rennert, 40, of Westchase, who helped spearhead the exhibit. "The brothers together were an unstoppable force. ...They survived through unimaginable conditions. It is not a story of death, but a story of life."

The exhibit, on display through Feb. 22, coincides with the film "Defiance," which opens in theaters in January. Based on the true story of the Bielski brothers, it stars Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber. A private screening of the film at Baywalk Muvico followed the exhibit's opening reception Nov. 16.

In 1941, the brothers took refuge in a forest near Novogrudok, now Belarus, to avoid the Nazis as they began their takeover of Poland. They went on to lead the Bielski partisans, the largest group of Jewish resistance fighters during the war. They waged guerrilla war against the Nazis that included taking German weapons, ambushing German patrols, derailing trains and destroying communication devices.

"It's important to make sure everyone is aware of what it was to save Jews and not kill Germans," said Tuvia's son, Robert Bielsky, 50, owner of a commercial real estate company in New York, who attended the opening. "Our father would not have wanted this attention, he was very humble. It's overwhelming to see how many people respect the legacy of my father and his brothers."

Rennert, who is in telecommunication sales, asked his immediate and extended family for artifacts, keepsakes and memories in an effort to share the story of his family's legacy.

"This is very exciting; Brendon is the one responsible for bringing this exhibit to life," said Tuvia's daughter and Brendon's mother, Ruth Bielski Ehrreich, 62, of Fort Myers. She recalled a continuous stream of visitors, from forest survivors to relatives, at her parents' Brooklyn home. "My mother never knew how many people to cook for," she said.

"This exhibit is surreal. For us, the story has always been alive because we lived it, and what you see is the importance of passing on the story."

The opening reception for "Courage and Compassion" was a bittersweet celebration as onlookers shuffled past photos, videos, original documents and tools chronicling pre-war life, victimization of Jews and the fight for survival in the woods.

Aron Bielski, now Aron Bell, the youngest of 12 and the only surviving Bielski sibling, attended the opening of the exhibit and private film screening. While touring the museum exhibit, he pointed to a picture of his father, David, and wept into his hand.

"He said to my older brothers, 'The war is not forever. You're young, run to the forest and save your lives,'" said Bell, 81, of Palm Beach.

Bell was 11 years old when he joined his brothers in the forest after the death of his parents. "I don't think that a kid at 11 understands what's happening. Because of them, I survived," he said.

"Zus was a hell of a man. He was the toughest in the family. Asael had a good heart, was very powerful and kept the family together. Tuvia was the commander," Bell said before wiping away a tear. "Each of those three was very unique."

In the forest they formed a community of men, women and children who lived in dugouts, called zimblankas. Creating a working village of partisan fighters and their families, they had a school, synagogue, bakery, repair stations and more. They remained in the woods until their liberation in 1944.

"Considering what they had available to them and the conditions they were under, they had a very sophisticated town," said Erin Blankenship, curator of exhibits at the museum. "It's incredible that they were able to do this; it gave them community and a sense of normalcy. That is why so many survived. There are tens of thousands of descendants and survivors who would not be alive today had it not been for them."

After leaving the forest, Asael joined the Russian army and died in battle six months later. The remaining brothers immigrated to the United States in the 1950s, settled in Brooklyn, lived only blocks apart, and worked in the taxi and trucking industries. Tuvia died in 1987 and Zus in 1995.

"My dad and his brothers refused to submit from the beginning," said Zus' son, Zvi Bielski, who traveled from Brooklyn. "When the Nazis came, they said no. He would have been very proud of the exhibit and the movie, not for the publicity.

"The legacy is 1,200 people walked out of the forest and there's thousands of people who are living today. What's important is finding inspiration from the story."

EXHIBIT OPENING

"Courage and Compassion:

The Legacy

of the Bielski Brothers"

When: through Feb. 22

Where: The Florida

Holocaust Museum,

55 Fifth St. S.,

St. Petersburg

How much: free for

museum members,

$12 general public;