Jewish family partisan detachment of Sholom Zorin: stages of formation and activity
The article describes the activities of the Jewish family unit under Sholom Zorin during the Great Patriotic War. It is a unique example of the Jewish partisan movement in the occupied territory of Belarus. There were no such examples in the Nazi-occupied territory of Europe, which in its turn emphasizes the uniqueness of the partisan formation in question. It notes its peculiarity in comparison with many Soviet partisan detachments and brigades, aimed not only at participating in fighting, but primarily at saving Jewish population of Belarus, condemned by the Nazis to complete destruction. The aim of the article is to reveal the main characteristics and peculiarities of the formation, organization, and activities of the Jewish family partisan detachment under Zorin. The basis for this study is the original documents from the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus, memoirs of former prisoners of the Minsk ghetto, and researches by historians. The article aims at revealing and concretizing characteristic forms and methods of participation of Jews in the partisan movement, as well as great organizational work of Jewish partisan formations in rescue of ghetto prisoners. The main part presents stages of organization of the detachment, identifies main activities related to the rescue of prisoners of the Minsk ghetto, provision of economic and medical assistance to partisan units of the Baranovichi formation, participation in combat operations. The characteristics of the unit’s activities presented in the article, allow us to conclude that Jewish family camps and detachments were a unique phenomenon in the history of the Great Patriotic War. Their organization and activities contributed to the rescue of Jews, involvement in the struggle, as well as assistance to other partisan formations, primarily in the field of medicine and technical service.