Critical Reaction
Publishers Weekly said "This is a story about heroes, and Duffy does a masterful job of telling it." The publication said, that after the war, when Tuvia Bielski was living in Brooklyn, "no one knew that the local immigrant truck driver had once commanded the feared Bielski brigade. It is time the four brothers received their due." It said that "This remarkable story would make a terrific movie."
Library Journal said that the book "relates in vivid detail the World War II saga of the Bielski partisans." It said: "Although clearly impressed with the Bielskis' accomplishments, as well as with the men themselves, Duffy does not let that detract from recounting the less noble aspects of partisan life."
Kirkus Reviews called it "A powerful recounting of a little-known story" and that the book was "more uplifting than most" Holocaust books. It said: "The day-in, day-out account of the next four years is an often unbearably intense chronicle of horror and courage. A novel telling a similar story would almost certainly be dismissed as outlandish, but Duffy's copious endnotes convincingly document the saga’s reality."
The book was criticized in the Polish press. Some of those reviews came from extreme right-wing and/or antisemitic circles while others came from mainstream press. The critics alleged that the book repeated the myth about a supposed Bór-Komorowski order that allegedly mandated the Polish underground to kill off Jewish partisans (this allegation is probably based on Order nr. 116, which called for extermination of criminal groups and protection of local population). The hardcover edition of the book removed this error.
The book was also criticized for not making a reference to the massacre in Naliboki, in which Bielskis' partisans allegedly participated. Their alleged involvement has been a subject of investigation by IPN, the Polish Institute of National Remembrance that investigates historical crimes in Poland. As of January 2009 IPN has not released its report, however several researchers of the IPN have stated in their own publications that the Bielskis were not involved in the massacre.
Polish critics also contended the book did not sufficiently concentrate on the question of securing food from local population. (Duffy, however, describes several allegations made against the Bielski brothers).
The book was also criticized for accusing Armia Krajowa of being an ally of German occupiers.
Read more about this topic: The Bielski Brothers (book)
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