Defiance

August 2, 1993
Tec ( When Light Pierced the Darkness ) relates the suspenseful and inspiring story of Jewish partisans who fought the Germans from their base in the Nalibocka Forest in Belorussia. Their leader, Tuvia Bielski, was an uneducated man who--though he had lost his parents, brothers and wife to the Germans--put efforts to preserve the lives of Jews above revenge. The partisans worked to rescue Jews in hiding and to smuggle Jews out of nearby ghettos, but also to punish Jewish collaborators. By the end of the war, Bielski had gathered more than 1200 Jews of all ages into the forest. That they suffered a loss of ``only'' 5% is remarkable, given that their refuge was virtually surrounded by Germans. Bielski died in 1987 and was buried in Jerusalem in a ceremony reserved for Israel's national heroes. Photos.

Stefan Rudnicki proves himself equal to the challenge of narrating Nechama Tec's aptly titled account of Jewish defiance during the Nazi occupation of Poland and Belarus. Rudnicki's clear presentation helps the listener navigate the densely packed historical material. One of his greatest strengths is his ease with the language of the story's setting. His pronunciation of names and his use of the slightest of accents when rendering the passages of dialogue are completely authentic and comfortable. The material itself is riveting as the author tells the little-known story of three brave peasant brothers who refused to bow to the demands of the Nazis. Instead, they started a movement to rescue fellow Jews from the ghettos and death squads, and establish a flourishing society in the forests of eastern Poland. M.O.B. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine