Too often people see Jewish people in WW2 as victims only. This excellent site proves this untrue. http://www.jewishpartisans.org/
Living and Surviving as a Partisan Another good but short article http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/partisan1.html And a quick summary, worth a read before delving into the details in post #1 http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/partisan2.html
If anyone wishes to read a first-hand account of what it was like to live as a partisan may I recommend "Fire without smoke" by Florian Mayevski, sub-titled "Memoirs of a Polish Partisan" ISBN 085303 461 3, published by Valentine Mitchell. Florian is personally known to me and is a lovely man. As a young man he fought as a partisan in the Polish Home Army at a time when few Jews did so but had to hide his Jewish identity from his comrades to ensure that the men in the group he commanded would obey his orders. Back to me if you require any further info
Thank you, Ron. The book sounds very interesting, and is now on my list of ones to read: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fire-Withou...766677-6119819?ie=UTF8&qid=1192872291&sr=11-1 There is still controversy surrounding the Armia Krajowa's relationships with Jews, with different sourcing citing examples of assistance and/or extreme antagonism between the two groups. I have read about the lengths members of the AK went to obtain evidence of the camps to pass on to the Allies, and also of some groups of the AK deliberately betraying Jewish individuals to the Nazis. So difficult to untangle the various stories. Has Mr Mayevski ever discussed the problems faced by Jewish people in the AK, or the AK's attitude towards Jews?
Fire without Smoke Kyte The book, written at a strictly personal level and very graphically in Florian's own words, amply covers your last query. In the last paragraph he says "I fought together with Poles & Germans so I know that not everyone was a fascist and anti-Semite" notwithstanding that, he was virtually forced out of Poland by the fresh waves of anti-semitism after the Six Day War in Israel" In my opinion a must read.
Another website - Eyewitness accounts of Russia's Jewish resistance during World War II This site has a 19 film that can be viewed using Realplayer http://www.jewishpartisans.net/ (note the address is similar to the above site but is .net not .org)
Interestingly, my wife has an uncle named Florian who was in the war and is of Polish descent. Will find out more.
Here's what Jodi said. She added her Mum would know more: "...was put in a concentration camp..not a jew but oldest sons were put in to keep the polish families loyal I think...he escaped and then joined the italians once they had become an ally"
