Erin Harper Deep in the Naliboki forest in Belarus, in the blackness of the night, more than 800 Jewish men, women, and children walk slowly through the dense wilderness. They push through the thick branches and foliage. The Jews arrive at the edge of a vast swampland. And, one by one, they descend into the swamp—sinking deep in the mud. Hidden in the dark, they wait—quietly—in extreme desperation to evade capture by the Germans. It’s August of 1943. This group of Jews had been living in the forest for almost two years—fighting German soldiers, rescuing fellow Jews, and rebuilding the very life and community that the Nazis were trying to destroy. This group is known as the Bielski partisans.