Structured encampments were a vital part of the Bielski campaign to save lives and
defend against the Germans. Many partisans were simply armed guerillas without a home-base
or anything more than a tent in the forest; however, the Bielskis constructed an entire village.
They were “not a partisan band in the regular sense but a Jewish community in the forest, with a
synagogue, a law court, workshops, a school, and other community structures” (Holocaust 9394). Instead of entering a world of further deprivation after escaping the Germans, the Bielski
group offered Jews a true home on the battlefield. While the Holocaust stripped away all that
gave the Jews dignity and identity, the Bielskis were able to rebuild pieces of the survivors’
previous lives, hence nullifying some effects of the Holocaust for those in their Otriad. Tuvia
Bielski illustrates this rebuilding of the prior lives when he recalled bringing a Russian officer
through their camp, describing, “From there I took our guest to show him our food stores, where
we had a three-day supply of bread, meat, and two kilograms of rusks per person…we went to
the slaughterhouse. There were two ritual slaughters…They had prepared the knives and they
deemed them completely kosher” (HEART). The Otriad was able to ensure the survival of the
Jews under their care both physically and spiritually, for it was not enough to simply survive but
to continue on with the elements of life that gave the Jews identity and comfort. Keeping kosher
exemplifies the powerful resistance to the Holocaust that the Bielskis were able to muster in their
camp because although the Nazis sought to destroy the Jewish faith, believers clung to it even in
the most clandestine of circumstances. Their camp also produced weapons, which in turn were
utilized to take offensive action against the Nazis (HEART). These actions kept the Nazis fixated
on destroying their highly developed encampment, instead of furthering their strategic attacks on
the Eastern Front. Clearly, the strength of the Bielski partisans’ resolve and tenacity lay in the
support system the camp provided. Without this essential backbone, more Jews would have
perished and the Germans would have had a far easier time marching deeper into Eastern Europe
and Russia.