Defiance

That evening her father supplied the Belorussian guards with generous quantities of vodka. Drunk and unable to attend to their duties, these guards did not turn on the searchlights that covered a large area around the ghetto.

Pesia had lost her entire family when they were taken out of the bunker.

Sonia insists that for a long time Zus continued to court her and she refused to become his mistress. When she did consent, they became an official couple. This was the start of a marriage that has lasted until the present.

Toward the end of 1942 the Germans had stepped up the mass killings.

arguments. People felt very strongly about him and would remark that “Tuvia had charm. He gave us all strength, we felt more secure with him. He was very close to people, he loved them. . . . Tuvia was hard and soft at the same time. When any one of us was in trouble he was always there. He would always help. One felt safe with him.”38

“Tuvia Bielski was filled with the national pain and the national love, the pain and the love for Jews. He devoted his soul, his brains, and everything else to the rescue of Jews. He saw a chance, a great opportunity, in his ability to save. He was grateful that he could save Jews. For him it was a privilege.

Shocked, the Belorussian said, “I don’t want to. I will help you. Come, let me take you back to your hiding place!”

On that day most of its 1,500 inhabitants, including Pesia’s family, were shot on the outskirts of town.

Bullets flew past their heads. Tuvia and Mechlis fell to the ground. Rough, excited voices speaking German kept reaching them: “Hurrah, catch the Jews, catch! Catch! Catch!” The attackers had probably hoped that hidden Jews would start running and thus be hit