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A review by beorn_101
Defiance: The Bielski Partisans by Nechama Tec
2.0
Parts of this book were completely engrossing, while others were quite dull or repetitive. This is a historical study of Partisans during WWII, with a special focus on the Bielski and Jewish Partisans. It also inspired an amazing movie, Defiance, which is why I wanted to read the book.
Quick overview of pros and cons:
Pros:
-Interesting fresh view of some parts of Jewish resistance
-Nice section examining the difference between Bielski's emphasis on "surviving" vs other partisans' emphasis on fighting
-Nice beginning showing some of the political and social environments of the are pre WWII, specifically giving an intimate view of Tuvia
Cons:
-After first few chapters the book is not chronological and jumps around
-very tough to get a true feel for the everyday lives of the Bielski partisans, which was odd since most of the source material used was oral
-The book begins arguing Tuvia as a great example of Jewish militaristic resistance to the Nazis, but then pretty much gives no accounts of anything done by him or his men militarily.
-Tuvia starts as the focus, disappears from the narrative for sections, and then pops back up, but the rest of the Bielskis are pretty much nonexistant
Unfortunately, the book didn't really do a great job actually solidifying my understanding of the Bielski family or brothers. Instead, it uses primarily Tuvia, as a lens to examine the large movements of Jewish resistance, or as the book calls it Defiance, in the Belorussian forest, specifically examining partisans, but also families, ghetto runaways, ect. This larger focus was fine; however, it did take away from a truly focused argument.
The book begins mostly chronologically but then meanders depending on what topic the author wanted to discuss, making the overall narrative VERY difficult to follow.
I also was shocked how little I truly felt I knew about the Bielski partisans after reading the book. I didn't have a firm grasp of their everyday lives. Food and food distribution is mentioned, but it was never entirely clear beyond that and producing goods what everyday life in the camp was like. How frequent were attacks on the partisans by Germans? How frequently did they do partisan activities? What, beyond basic survival things, did they do in camp, if anything? What discussions took place in camp about antisemitism? What happened to camp members once the camp was disbanded?
I wanted a better understanding of the experience, and felt like this book gave jarring quick snippets, in a jumping around sort of order, but I didn't feel like I gained too much new understanding. It was tough to place the partisan movement in the forests alongside the larger events at the time, even brief mentions giving context would have helped immensely, but this wasn't done.
Overall, I went in with very high expectations and hopes, and did not feel like this book delivered. It was at times fascinating (about 20% of the time) and the rest of the time very repetitive repeating things about food, distribution, and weapon scarcity over and over and over.
Please note, I am no stranger to denser historical books, so merely being more academic is not what made me think it was merely Ok.
Quick overview of pros and cons:
Pros:
-Interesting fresh view of some parts of Jewish resistance
-Nice section examining the difference between Bielski's emphasis on "surviving" vs other partisans' emphasis on fighting
-Nice beginning showing some of the political and social environments of the are pre WWII, specifically giving an intimate view of Tuvia
Cons:
-After first few chapters the book is not chronological and jumps around
-very tough to get a true feel for the everyday lives of the Bielski partisans, which was odd since most of the source material used was oral
-The book begins arguing Tuvia as a great example of Jewish militaristic resistance to the Nazis, but then pretty much gives no accounts of anything done by him or his men militarily.
-Tuvia starts as the focus, disappears from the narrative for sections, and then pops back up, but the rest of the Bielskis are pretty much nonexistant
Unfortunately, the book didn't really do a great job actually solidifying my understanding of the Bielski family or brothers. Instead, it uses primarily Tuvia, as a lens to examine the large movements of Jewish resistance, or as the book calls it Defiance, in the Belorussian forest, specifically examining partisans, but also families, ghetto runaways, ect. This larger focus was fine; however, it did take away from a truly focused argument.
The book begins mostly chronologically but then meanders depending on what topic the author wanted to discuss, making the overall narrative VERY difficult to follow.
I also was shocked how little I truly felt I knew about the Bielski partisans after reading the book. I didn't have a firm grasp of their everyday lives. Food and food distribution is mentioned, but it was never entirely clear beyond that and producing goods what everyday life in the camp was like. How frequent were attacks on the partisans by Germans? How frequently did they do partisan activities? What, beyond basic survival things, did they do in camp, if anything? What discussions took place in camp about antisemitism? What happened to camp members once the camp was disbanded?
I wanted a better understanding of the experience, and felt like this book gave jarring quick snippets, in a jumping around sort of order, but I didn't feel like I gained too much new understanding. It was tough to place the partisan movement in the forests alongside the larger events at the time, even brief mentions giving context would have helped immensely, but this wasn't done.
Overall, I went in with very high expectations and hopes, and did not feel like this book delivered. It was at times fascinating (about 20% of the time) and the rest of the time very repetitive repeating things about food, distribution, and weapon scarcity over and over and over.
Please note, I am no stranger to denser historical books, so merely being more academic is not what made me think it was merely Ok.