The leader of a renowned brigade that rescued hundreds of Jews during World War II died last Friday of a cardiac arrest at his home in Brooklyn.
Alexander Bielski, the head of the Bielski Brigade, was 83.
The brigade, which carried out guerrilla was against the Nazis, saved hundreds of Jews from Nazi execution in Byelorussia, now the independent nation of Belarus.
Bielski was born in the tiny village of Stankiewicze, near Novogrudok. The are was assigned to Poland in 1921, reannexed by the Soviet union in 1939 and invaded by the Germans in 1941, The New York Times reported.
When the Nazis took over the village, Bielski and his brothers Eshahol Aaron reportedly hid in the surrounding woods, founding the brigade upon hearing of relatives killed by the Germans.
During the war, the Bielskis, now joined by another brother, Tuvia, and 300 fighters, fought the Nazis, stealing German weapons, ambushing German patrols, derailing troop trains and blowing up bridges and electric stations.
Alexander Bielski, met Sonia Boldo, who would become his wife, while carrying out resistance activity.
Unlike other resistance groups, the Bielski Brigade rescued women and children, and assured their safety when hiding in a village by telling villagers that if even one Jew was given up to Germans, the entire village would be burned, The New York Times said.
Some 10,000 people reportedly are alive today who would have died or never been born if it were not for the brigade.
In 1956, Bielski moved from Israel to New York, where he operated a taxi fleet and trucking company.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
