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Home , Asael Bielski, Bielski partisans, Defiance (season 1), Liev Schreiber, Tuvia Bielski

Ethics and the Film

partisan: n. a member of an organized body of fghters who attack or harass an enemy, especially within occupied territory; a guerrilla. www.jewishpartisans.org

Daniel Craig as Tuvia and Alexa INTRODUCTION TO GUIDE The questions posed in this guide are meant to Davalos as Lilka from DEFIANCE. Copyright: ©2009 by PARAMOUNT provoke and facilitate discussion about difficult VANTAGE. All Rights Reserved. The movie Defiance (2009)­ depicts the ethical dilemmas, to help teens process and better incredible but true story of the Bielski brothers, understand the film, and to engage them in Tuvia, Zus, Asael, and Aron (played by Daniel critical thinking about the intricacies and nuances Craig, , , and George of some of the important issues that are raised in MacKay) who, against all odds during World War the film. II, survived in the forest, fought the Germans, and saved approximately 1,200 Jewish lives. CONTEXT The movie is rated R, mostly for violence. The Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation (JPEF) From a small village in what is now the Republic recommends that parents, guardians, or educators of , the Bielski brothers escaped the view this movie with their teens and engage them Germans, who murdered their family and most in a discussion of the film, using this guide. of the Jewish inhabits in their village. They escaped to a nearby forest and created a refuge The Bielskis faced ethical decisions that would for other local there. But the Bielskis did be unfathomable to us. They were forced to more than hide and save lives; they emerged Teaching with ‘Defiance’ live in the forest at a time when the fabric of from the trees on horseback, sub-machine guns This guide can be used with JPEF’s society—with all of its morality, ethics, and multimedia curriculum for the film strapped to their shoulders, attacking German ‘Defiance’, starring and laws—had crumbled around them. They were Liev Schreiber. For additional resources soldiers and their collaborators. In time, the and information, go to: forced to make difficult life and death decisions, forest settlement became like a small town, www.jewishpartisans.org/defiance and quickly—their own lives depended on it. complete with shoemakers and tailors, carpenters

1 Wolozyn only to survive, but to rescue ZYNA RIVER RE E B others. MINSK NALIBOCKA FOREST Iwieniec BYSIRA RIVER Defance reveals the Naliboki intricacies of the Bielskis’ Wsielub experience, and portrays the Novogrodek difficult ethical dilemmas the R E IV Korelicze Stolpce R brothers struggled with on a EN M Zdzieciol IE N daily basis in order to survive.

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9 T It is important to remember Horodyszcze 1 IE

29- that the Bielskis were living 19 through a war and that Baranovichi Slonim POLISH-SOV they were on the front lines. LIPICZANSKA FOREST Their lives were in constant danger every day—­not just LITHUANIA as partisans, but as the ongoing targets of a violent BELARUBE S antisemitism with hundreds of years of historical USSR roots. The struggled for food on POLAND a regular basis, and witnessed the destruction of their families, loved ones, and their entire lives as they knew it. They were constantly faced with problems that had no simple solution. CZECHOSLOVAKIA The Bielski partisans had to make incredibly difficult choices that would normally be seen as unethical to us during ordinary times—such as ROMANIA stealing, killing, and taking revenge—but which, at the time, were often necessary for their very survival.

MAP OF AREA: Approximate activity and hat makers. It became a central square for of Bielski partisans in Eastern Poland HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE (now Belarus) during war. Source: social gatherings, a tannery that doubled as a Defiance: The Bielski Partisans, by synagogue, and even a theater troupe. Ultimately, . Oxford University Press, The goal of this study guide is to give parents 1993. the Bielski brothers saved the lives of 1,200 Jews and educators a variety of tools to facilitate a and killed more than 300 enemy soldiers. discussion after watching the film, delving into the day-in, day-out moral dilemmas that the The Bielskis were part of a larger military Bielskis faced in the forest, and analyzing how presence. There were hundreds of thousands of those ethical issues are relevant to our lives today. partisans all over Europe, fighting the Germans and their collaborators in at least ten occupied The guide focuses on three critical actions taken countries. Many partisans were former soldiers by the Bielskis and thousands of other Jewish who escaped German camps, or civilians who partisans throughout the war: Stealing, Killing, and Taking Revenge. took up arms against the enemy. In all, an estimated 30,000 Jews fought as partisans, the Each section is divided into four parts: majority in Soviet-controlled areas during World War II. • Introduction - background on the issue • Discussion Questions - to engage teens in The only way the Bielskis could survive was by thinking about the issue at hand making an alliance with the who were also operating in the forests. Soviet • Text - an excerpt from a religious or historical partisan units were mainly comprised of text which illuminates, complexifies, and soldiers who scattered in the wake of the June, contextualizes the issue 1941 German invasion of the . It is • Descriptions - further clarification and important to note that the Bielskis were not just discussion of the issue, sometimes followed by tough; they were also cunning. Along with a great more questions deal of luck, these qualities enabled them not

2 in which you’ve seen something done to another A: STEALING person that made you uncomfortable? How did Introduction you react?

Early in the film, there is a scene in which some • Is there a discrepancy between Leviticus 18:5 of the Bielski partisans are in search of food. They and Leviticus 19:16? What happens when there find a milkman delivering several large containers is a discrepancy between the law to live by G-d’s of milk to the Germans. The partisans steal the decrees and the law of self-preservation? How milk for themselves, but decide not to take all of would you decide when it is justifable to take the it, leaving the milkman with something to give the law into your own hands? Germans so that he would not be punished. • Do these verses change the way you feel about how the Bielskis treated the milkman? If so, how? Discussion Questions Later in the film, the same milkman leads German • Do you think the Bielskis were justifed in stealing soldiers to the Bielski partisans’ secret location in food from the milkman? Why or why not? the forest, forcing the camp to flee in terror.

Text • Should the Bielskis have killed the milkman to prevent what happened? Why or why not? How The Torah (the first five books do the verses from Leviticus (above) inform your of the Hebrew Bible) has a opinion? general principle that frames many of ’s subsequent • It is not known whether or not the milkman was laws that relate to the ethics a willing Nazi collaborator or if he was forced of war. This principle is called to give them the location of the Bielskis’ camp. “pikuach nefesh”—the healing Would knowing this influence your answer? How? of the soul—and claims that the preservation of a human life is the most important law of B: KILLING all, and that almost any other Introduction law may be violated in order to ensure that life is preserved. Partisans had to kill their enemies and take responsibility for the related moral and practical This concept is derived from issues surrounding this on a regular basis. two different verses in Leviticus Clayton Frohman, co-writer and co-producer of (the third book of the Torah): Defance, worked closely with the film’s director “You shall keep my decrees and and co-writer Edward Zwick, and was on location my laws that a person will do in Lithuania throughout the filming, acted in the and live by them, I am G-d.“ film, and participated in the film’s editing process. ­­(Leviticus 18:5) and “You shall Clayton answered some of JPEF’s questions about (played by Daniel Craig not stand by the blood of your fellow.” (Leviticus in Defance). Date unknown. the Bielskis and the making of Defance. Source: Novogrudek, The History of a 19:16). Jewish Shtetl, www.novogrudek.com. The Rabbis from the Talmud (a compendium of Description centuries of Jewish law and thought) derive from JPEF: How did the Bielski partisan unit treat these verses that one must do everything in one’s their enemies—the Germans and their power to save a life, even if it involves violation collaborators? of one or more of the commandments. This would mean that while the Bible says that it is CLAYTON: We understand that the Bielskis wrong to steal, if one is stealing to save a life, it regularly killed Germans and those who is permissible. collaborated with them.

Additional Discussion Questions Their point was to discourage villagers from turning in Jews to the Nazis. Once they found a • What do you think is the meaning of verse 19:16 collaborator, they’d kill him, kill his entire family, in Leviticus “You shall not stand by the blood of burn his house, and put up a sign that read, “This is your fellow”? Have you ever been in a situation what happens to the collaborators.”

3 CLAYTON: Their actions were Description (continued) sometimes as vicious as the Nazis and this actually attracted JPEF: How does Defance portray the Bielskis’ us, Edward [Zwick], and me, to moral tension about taking lives? them—this differentiated them CLAYTON: Tuvia’s mantra is, “We will not become from other groups of Jews like them.” Zus, his brother, says, “But we can kill during . like them.”

Six million Jews were murdered The spine of the movie is this dialectic, this tension with the assistance of local between them. Many of the ethical issues of the Nazi collaborators. These movie are—do we become as nasty, as vengeful, locals were a key part of their and as bloody as the Nazis. The Bielskis grappled strategy, and many participated with this notion of “we don’t want to become with the Nazis in the murder them, and yet we have.” of Jews, or provided the Nazis with critical information about Text their whereabouts. Locals, not Nazis, were responsible for the President Barack Obama, in his 2009 Nobel Peace death of the Bielski’s parents Prize acceptance speech said: and family members. Not all locals worked with the Nazis, “Make no mistake: Evil does exist in the world. however; many helped the A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler’s armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Zus Bielski (played by Liev Schreiber partisans and many more were instrumental to the in Defance) after the War. Qaeda’s leaders to lay down their arms. To say Approximate date 1944-1945. survival of countless Jews. Source: USHMM that force may sometimes be necessary is not a Text call to cynicism—it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.” The Talmud, in tractate Sanhedrin page 73a, states: And Simon Trakinski, a Jewish partisan from “Haba lehorgecha, hashkem lehorgo“—if someone is Lithuania that JPEF interviewed, said, “Evil only coming to kill you, rise to kill them first. recognizes stronger evil.” From a Jewish perspective, you are OBLIGATED to defend yourself and protect your life if it is in Discussion Questions danger. However, according to Jewish law-makers, led by the 12th century rabbi and philosopher • Contrast President Obama’s statement with that Maimonides, if you kill someone who could have of Simon Trakinski: How are they similar? How are been stopped by lesser means then you are guilty they different? of murder. Meaning, if someone is chasing you •  Do you think non-violent resistance could have with a gun, and you could stop them and save your stopped the Holocaust? Why or why not? Under life by shooting them in the foot, then if you kill what circumstances is armed resistance more them, it is considered murder. appropriate than non-violent resistance (include examples of civil-rights struggles, wartime and Discussion Questions genocide)

• Were the Bielskis justified in treating collaborators • Who do you agree with: Tuvia, who said, “We will in the way they did? Why or why not? not become like them” or Zus, who said, “But we can kill like them”? Why? Can the two statements • How do you feel about the assertion that the be compatible with each other? In what ways? Bielskis were “sometimes as vicious as the Nazis?” • Clayton implies that the Bielskis may have • Is there a difference between the word “kill” and survived because they responded with evil to the word “murder”? evil, and in some way “became like them.” Do • Does the context of wartime change how these you agree? Give an example from the movie that texts on ethics can or should be understood? expresses this. Should ethical laws be the same in war and peace?

4 revenge on the man who killed his cousin, Soll. C: TAKING REVENGE In describing why he took revenge, Daniel says, “I Introduction wanted to obtain vengeance myself, even if it were to cost me my own life. I had to ask myself, how The Bielskis witnessed the murder of their families could I live through my anger over Soll’s death and friends, and the destruction of their entire for the rest of my life? The answer was that the world. They killed Germans not only in self-defense best way to deal with my anger was to exact the or because they were fighting a war; but also as a vengeance myself.” result of raw emotion and revenge. Discussion Questions Text • What is YOUR gut reaction about revenge? When There are conflicting ethical is it right? When is it wrong? perspectives in various religious traditions and cultures • Put the four quotations above into your own regarding revenge. words. Which resonate most with you? Why?

The Jewish tradition seems to • What potential benefits does revenge have? What offer paradoxical perspectives. potential harm can it cause? In Leviticus 19:18, the Torah • Have you ever wanted to take revenge? Have states, “You shall not take you ever acted on it? What was the situation? In revenge or bear any grudge retrospect, was it “right”? How did it make you against the children of your feel? people,” arguing that revenge is wrong. Description On the other hand, in Exodus JPEF: How did you portray the Bielskis experience (the second book of the Torah) of revenge in the movie? 21:24, it says, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” CLAYTON: We had a scene we wrote where they (Shemot 21:24). This verse capture a scout with paperwork that the Germans seems to encourage revenge, were about to launch an assault into the forest, though it is almost always to root out the partisans and put an end to the (played by Jamie Bell interpreted metaphorically by Jewish commentators partisan movement. in Defance) was killed during the (monetary compensation for a loss, rather than battle of Koenigsberg in 1944 while fighting in the Red Army. Approximate exact revenge). What happens in scene is this terrified Nazi scout date 1943-1944. Source: USHMM is thrown into the camp, and a group of partisans A famous Christian perspective is found in the surround him with rocks and guns and hatchets, Gospel According to Matthew, Chapter 5, Verses and they taunt him. 38-42, quoting Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount,

saying: “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye The group is descending on the scout as Tuvia for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you, do examines the documents, which inform him that not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the Germans will be leading a raid on their camp in the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if two days. someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let

him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you It was a group effort, and the group, in full view to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the of everyone else in the camp, took out all of their one who asks you, and do not turn away from the revenge and pain and anger on this scout. “This is one who wants to borrow from you.“ for my mother. This is for my father. This is for my Another perspective is elucidated by Jared brother.” He’s beaten to death by the crowd. Diamond, in his article in the magazine (April 21, 2008) about modern tribes There are moderates and hot-heads in the group. in Papua New Guinea, in which he describes Some people ask Tuvia to intervene. The scout says, their culture of taking revenge. He quotes a New “I have a wife and kids,” and one of the Jews says, Guinean Highlander named Daniel, who takes “So did I.”

5 CLAYTON: The partisans didn’t let anyone go. What So we shot that moment of remorse and were they going to do, take them prisoner? Feed awareness. them when they could hardly feed themselves? Then we added a third element—Tuvia walks JPEF: What was it like for you to be an actor in through the camp afterwards, and various people that scene? refuse to meet his eye. We were trying to portray a CLAYTON: I had a rifle—a rubberized one, which I communal sense of guilt, and a feeling that Tuvia, was bringing down on the guy’s neck. I felt that if our leader, did nothing to prevent this murder. I gave way to my own violence, I could break this guy’s neck. But it’s a movie. He’s a stuntman. The A movie is written three times—by the writer, by level of violence that could be created as a group the director on the set, and by the editor in the is astounding. Group behavior is different from editing room; the editor decides which take best individual behavior. Things you wouldn’t do as an communicates the intention. Steve Rosenblum, individual you could do in a group. I felt that. the editor of Defance, said “Forget that remorse stuff. They’d kill him and forget about it and start Text eating.”

Irving Janis, a 20th century research psychologist Then we consulted with the real Bielskis—sons and famous for his theory “Groupthink,” about the daughters of Tuvia and Zus. Zvi Bielski, Zus’s son, characteristics of group behavior, wrote in his said, “There was no remorse. My father’s only regret book Victims of Groupthink that one of the eight was that he didn’t kill more Germans.” characteristics of “groupthink” is: “An unquestioned belief in the group’s inherent morality, inclining Discussion Questions the members to ignore the ethical or moral consequences of their decisions.” • Imagine that YOU are the editor of Defiance, creating a flm that reflects your own ethics. Another characteristic of “groupthink” described How would you choose to portray this scene? by Janis is: “An illusion of invulnerability, shared by most or all the members, which creates excessive A. The group kills the scout and gets on with their optimism and encourages taking extreme risks.” lives afterwards B. The group starts to beat him, and then stops Discussion Questions itself before it is too late

• What role does “groupthink” play in this scene C. The group starts to beat the scout, and then described by writer Clayton Frohman? Tuvia stops them

• Do you think the scout would have been treated D. The group kills the scout and then can’t believe differently if only Tuvia had caught him? What what it has done about if Zus had caught him? E. The group kills the scout, and when Tuvia walks • How do you think that “groupthink” may have by they are angry at him for not stopping them helped the Bielskis and the Partisans? • Why would you portray that scene in the way that Description (continued) you’ve chosen? Why did you choose your answer over the other answers? JPEF: What role did the filmmaker’s ethics play in shooting this scene? • Describe how your choice connects to your own personal sense of ethics. CLAYTON: We’d filmed the scene a number of times, and, after a day of shooting this, we were • Describe how the ethics of the filmmakers can all exhausted, and felt like we’d killed someone. So influence the telling of a historical situation. Edward said: “Let’s shoot this again, and this time, Is this a problem in flmmaking? If so, why? once you’ve finished the frenzy of killing, come up out of circle of violence, and have a moment of Description (continued) guilt and remorse.” JPEF: What was the final decision in the editing room?

6 CLAYTON: As you see in the movie, that moment Discussion Questions More Information on of remorse was cut. But there was a sense that the • How is the context of Judea Pearl’s experience something had happened to the group, and Tuvia The Jewish Partisan Educational hadn’t prevented it. of losing his son different to the Bielskis losing Foundation recommends these their parents? resources for further information: This is what we dealt with. The movie has a lot of • How is Judea Pearl’s attitude different from that those moments. It’s not black and white. It’s not expressed by Simon Trakinski’s when he stated Films & Video a film in which the Jews are good guys and the that “evil only recognizes greater evil”? Which • De fance, directed by Edward Germans bad guys all of the time—we wanted to resonates with you? Zwick. A Paramount Vantage portray that in any moment you could be a good or release (2008), available bad guy. We’re all capable of all these things. • How do Judea Pearl’s actions inform your online or on DVD. understanding of and perspective about revenge? • To see a video of Aron Bell, A Final Text the last surviving Bielski • Do you think that the story of the Bielski brothers, brother, talking about his Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi of England, and the excerpts and quotes you have read about brother Tuvia, go to www. recounted the following story on November 8th, taking revenge, will affect your life in any way? jewishpartisans.org/partisans How might this story inform the choices you will 2008, in his weekly thoughts on the Torah portion: • A Partisan Returns: The Legacy be making throughout your own life? of Two Sisters, directed by Judea Pearl, father of the murdered American Mitch Braff (2008): www. journalist Daniel Pearl, was in London while these • Why do you think the film (and the book it is based jewishpartisans.org/films [recent antisemitic attacks on synagogues in on) is called Defiance? How is ‘defance’ different •  , directed from ‘vengeance’? How is it different from The Partisans of Vilna England] were taking place. by Joshua Waletzky (1987). ‘survival’? What acts of defance can you point to His son had been brutally murdered in Karachi in this flm? after confessing: “My father is Jewish, my mother is Books/Guides Jewish, and I am Jewish.” • De fance: The Bielski Partisans, SUMMARY by Nechama Tec. Oxford Judea has taken his son’s University Press, 1993. death and turned it We hope that the texts and discussion questions into a mission to perpetuate in this guide have helped you to develop a more • The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men the values for which he lived. nuanced perspective on the difficult ethical Who Defed the Nazis, Built He has instituted scholarships dilemmas featured in the movie Defance, and a Village in the Forest, and to bring young Pakistani have led to discussions that enabled a deepened Saved 1,200 Jews, by Peter journalists to America. He has understanding about these issues, as well as the Duffy, Harper Collins, 2004. put together a marvelously difficult choices that you will face in your own lives. • Daring to Resist: Jewish affrmative book in which Defance During the Daniel Pearl, journalist. The Bielskis are featured on the Jewish Partisan Date unknown well-known Jews talk about Holocaust, by Yitzhak Mais Educational Foundation’s website, along with what Judaism means to them. (ed), Museum of Jewish the stories of many other partisans. For more And he has initiated a series of dialogues with the Heritage, 2007. information, visit www.jewishpartisans.org. Islamic scholar Akbar Ahmed, in order to show • Tuvia Bielski JPEF Study Guide: that Jews and Muslims can live together in mutual www.jewishpartisans/resist respect. Why, I asked Judea, had he gone down this road of dialogue? Websites “I refuse,” he said, “to give Daniel’s killers a victory. If • Teaching with ‘Defance’ and I were to repay evil with evil, hate with hate, I would Bielski Partisans Resource This Discussion Guide written by Maya Bernstein, Page: www.jewishpartisans. be letting them make me a little like them. Only by Director of Education and Leadership Initiatives at org/defiance repaying evil with good do we defeat it.” Upstart Bay Area; edited in consultation with David Monblatt. • Defiance film official website: www.paramount.com/movies/ defiance • Novogrudek: History of a Jewish Shetel: www. novogrudek.com

THIS DISCUSSION GUIDE MADE POSSIBLE BY RICK AND CLAUDIA FELSON; THE RICHARD AND RHODA GOLDMAN FUND; AND MURRAY KUSHNER AND FAMILY. ©2008 - 2014 Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation. Revision ID: 13.2

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