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In late
1941, the first Jews from the towns of Lithuania made their way to
the forests, mostly as individuals or in small groups. They were
soon joined by escapees from the Vilna Ghetto. Some of them formed
family camps; others joined partisan brigades. In August 1943, a
group of fighters from the United Partisan Organization (FPO) in
Vilna, under Josef Glazman, went to the Narocz Forest and formed a
Jewish partisan brigade called Nekama (Hebrew for
"Revenge"), with about 200 fighters. About two months
later, the brigade was disbanded by order of the Soviets. In
September and October, additional Vilna FPO groups went to the
Rudniki Forests. In all, the Jews of Vilna established four brigades
under the auspices of the Soviet and Lithuanian partisan movement,
with a total of 400 persons. |
