Defiance
The Bielski Partisans
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Narrated by:
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Stefan Rudnicki
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By:
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Nechama Tec
About this listen
This is the riveting history of one such group: a forest community numbering more than 1,200 that carried out the largest armed rescue operation of Jews by Jews in World War II. Nechama Tec reconstructs the amazing details of how these men and women of all ages - hungry, largely unarmed, and exposed to harsh winter weather - managed not only to survive but to take on the dual role of fighters and rescuers. Under the guidance of their charismatic leader, Tuvia Bielski, they smuggled Jews out of heavily guarded ghettos, led retaliatory raids against Nazi collaborators, and offered protection to all Jewish fugitives who could find their way to them.
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Story
In Masters of Death, Richard Rhodes gives full weight, for the first time, to the Einsatzgruppen's role in the Holocaust. These "special task forces", organized by Heinrich Himmler to follow the German army as it advanced into Eastern Poland and Russia, were the agents of the first phase of the Final Solution. They murdered more than one and a half million men, women, and children between 1941 and 1943, often by shooting them into killing pits, as at Babi Yar.
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Good book...but...
- By Disintegrator on 08-26-19
By: Richard Rhodes
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A Lucky Child
- A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy
- By: Thomas Buergenthal
- Narrated by: Thomas Buergenthal, Don Hagen
- Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Thomas Buergenthal, now a Judge in the International Court of Justice in The Hague, tells his astonishing experiences as a young boy in his memoir, A Lucky Child. He arrived at Auschwitz at age 10 after surviving two ghettos and a labor camp. Separated first from his mother and then his father, Buergenthal managed by his wits and some remarkable strokes of luck to survive on his own. Almost two years after his liberation, Buergenthal was miraculously reunited with his mother and in 1951 arrived in the U.S. to start a new life.
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Compelling Account
- By Simone on 04-23-15
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The Vatican Pimpernel
- The World War II Exploits of the Monsignor Who Saved Over 6,500 Lives
- By: Brian Fleming
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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During the German occupation of Rome from 1942-1944, Irishman Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty ran an escape organization for Allied POWs and civilians, including Jews. Safe within the Vatican state, he regularly ventured out in disguise to continue his mission, which earned him the nickname 'The Pimpernel of the Vatican'. When the Allies entered Rome, he and his collaborators - priests, nuns, and laypeople of numerous nationalities and religious beliefs - had saved the lives of over 6,500 people.
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Enthralling
- By Jean on 05-27-15
By: Brian Fleming
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The Holocaust
- A New History
- By: Laurence Rees
- Narrated by: Eric Vale
- Length: 19 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Laurence Rees has spent 25 years meeting the survivors and perpetrators of the Third Reich and the Holocaust. In this sweeping history, he combines this testimony with the latest academic research to investigate how history's greatest crime was possible. Rees argues that while hatred of the Jews was at the epicenter of Nazi thinking, we cannot fully understand the Holocaust without considering Nazi plans to kill millions of non-Jews as well.
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FANTASTIC BOOK, BUT HORRIBLE READING
- By Aspen on 08-31-17
By: Laurence Rees
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Mao
- The Unknown Story
- By: Jung Chang, Jon Halliday
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 29 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Based on a decade of research and on interviews with many of Mao's close circle in China who have never talked before, and with virtually everyone outside China who had significant dealings with him, this is the most authoritative biography of Mao ever written.
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Fills many gaps! Very good..but!
- By Jene on 08-07-06
By: Jung Chang, and others
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Wine and War
- The French, the Nazis, and the Battle for France's Greatest Treasure
- By: Donald Kladstrup, Petie Kladstrup
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1940, France fell to the Nazis and almost immediately the German army began a campaign of pillaging one of the assets the French hold most dear: their wine. Like others in the French Resistance, winemakers mobilized to oppose their occupiers, but the tale of their extraordinary efforts has remained largely unknown - until now. This is the thrilling and harrowing story of the French wine producers who undertook ingenious, daring measures to save their cherished crops and bottles as the Germans closed in on them.
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Good story, terrible performance
- By Sean on 05-28-12
By: Donald Kladstrup, and others
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My Brother's Keeper
- Christians Who Risked All to Protect Jewish Targets of the Nazi Holocaust
- By: Rod Gragg
- Narrated by: Rick Zieff
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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My Brother's Keeper unfolds powerful stories of Christians from across denominations who gave everything they had to save the Jewish people from the evils of the Holocaust. This unlikely group of believers, later honored by the nation of Israel as Righteous Among the Nations, included ordinary teenage girls, pastors, priests, a German army officer, a former Italian fascist, an international spy, and even a princess.
By: Rod Gragg
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The German War
- A Nation Under Arms, 1939-1945; Citizens and Soldiers
- By: Nicholas Stargardt
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 24 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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As early as 1941, Allied victory in World War II seemed all but assured. How and why, then, did the Germans prolong the barbaric conflict for three and a half more years? In The German War, acclaimed historian Nicholas Stargardt draws on an extraordinary range of primary source materials - personal diaries, court records, and military correspondence - to answer this question. He offers an unprecedented portrait of wartime Germany, bringing the hopes and expectations of the German people to vivid life.
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Great read for history buffs
- By marykk on 05-12-16
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The Good Man of Nanking
- The Diaries of John Rabe
- By: Edwin Wickert
- Narrated by: Anna Fields
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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This unique and gripping document contains the recently discovered diaries of a German businessman, John Rabe, who saved so many lives in the infamous siege of Nanking in 1937 that he is now being honored as the Oskar Schindler of China. As the Japanese army closed in and all foreigners were ordered to evacuate, Rabe mobilized the remaining Westerners in Nanking and organized an "International Safety Zone" which guaranteed safety to all unarmed Chinese by virtue of Germany's pact.
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why is it narrated by a woman?
- By Anonymous User on 11-10-20
By: Edwin Wickert
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Hanns and Rudolf
- The True Story of the German Jew Who Tracked Down and Caught the Kommandant of Auschwitz
- By: Thomas Harding
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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May 1945: In the aftermath of the Second World War, the first British War Crimes Investigation Team is assembled to hunt down the senior Nazi officials responsible for the greatest atrocities the world has ever seen. One of the lead investigators is Lieutenant Hanns Alexander, a German Jew who is now serving in the British Army. Rudolf Höss is his most elusive target. Hanns and Rudolf reveals for the very first time the full, exhilarating account of Höss' capture, an encounter with repercussions that echo to this day.
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I Read This Marvelous Book...
- By Douglas on 01-04-14
By: Thomas Harding
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Trail of Hope
- The Anders Army, an Odyssey Across Three Continents
- By: Norman Davies
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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In this remarkable work, renowned historian Professor Norman Davies draws from years of meticulous research to recount the compelling story of the Polish II Corps or "Anders Army", and their exceptional journey from the Gulag of Siberia through Iran, the Middle East, and North Africa to the battlefields of Italy to fight shoulder-to-shoulder with Allied forces. Complete with firsthand accounts from the men and women who lived through it, this is a unique record of one of the most fascinating episodes of World War II.
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Amazing story of Polish peoples and never giving up hope for free Poland.
- By Peter Chmiel on 09-24-19
By: Norman Davies
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Les Parisiennes
- How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupation
- By: Anne Sebba
- Narrated by: Polly Stone
- Length: 16 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Paris in the 1940s was a place of fear, power, aggression, courage, deprivation, and secrets. During the occupation, the swastika flew from the Eiffel Tower and danger lurked on every corner. While Parisian men were either fighting at the front or captured and forced to work in German factories, the women of Paris were left behind where they would come face to face with the German conquerors on a daily basis, as waitresses, shop assistants, or wives and mothers, increasingly desperate to find food to feed their families as hunger became part of everyday life.
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An Excellent Historical Perspective
- By Lulu on 10-28-16
By: Anne Sebba
What listeners say about Defiance
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Dane62
- 01-22-22
What a Great Read
I often am hesitant to listen/read another book on the holocaust or WW2 but this one was part of Plus so I figured, why not?
It was such an inspiring read. The mere fact that they survived was amazing but the community they created within the forest was incredible. It is amazing what one persons hope can do in a seemingly hopeless situation. Sad that this doesn’t get more attention and it was sad to hear about Tuvia Bielski’s life after the war. Definitely a great find and don’t regret the listen at all.
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- Paul
- 02-06-09
Great Story, could have been told better
The raw material for this story is just riveting, which makes the flaws in the narrative that much more frustrating. I particularly found the discussion of some of the difficult moral choices the partisans had to make to be compelling reading.
Let me also say, I remember well being in 8th grade and reading Night by Elie Wiesel and feeling, forgive me if this sounds like blaming the victim, but feeling angry with the passivity of those who went into the gas chambers without a struggle. This book not only shows another side of the story, but it provides a very convincing, and heart-tugging discussion of why some didn't resist.
My only critique is that it is written more as research paper than as a story. For example, Chapter 11 is entitled (paraphrasing) "The Formation of New Social Structures", and discusses, well, social structures among the Bielski partisans. It seems to me a more inventive author would have woven that in to a narrative.
Certainly, this is a book I heartily recommend. It is easy to say "we must never forget", but a book like this is important to ensuring that we consciously remember the holocaust, rather than simply have it locked in the recesses of long term memory.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Ralph Robbins
- 10-04-22
Extraordinary story
This extraordinary story is very uplifting. It demomonstrates how the desire to live can overcome so many treats.
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- Brian Simoni
- 05-27-22
Very good!
I highly recommend watching the movie before reading the book, because even though there is a bit of “Hollywood” involved, it will allow the reader to have a better visual of the people and places being described in the book. Some have complained that the book is too academic, and I found that it is exactly what it should be… History mixed with documentary which equals reality. I do not think I would have come to appreciate the dire situations encountered, nor would I have had as clear an understanding of the principals involved had I not watched the movie first. A definite must listen for those who are interested in, and want to dig below the surface of the known atrocities forced upon the Jewish communities of many nations during WW II. A true story about survival and what it took, and the ability of a few men to build a safe haven for as many as possible.
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- Kindle Customer
- 11-21-15
awesome. it was an amazing book. buy it 10/10
Their story was amazing and I'm so happy this happened and that this author gave voice to the tuvia's story.
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- Patrick Collins
- 03-22-24
Another reason why a book is better then the movie
When the movie came out years ago i was excited to go see it because of the story. A group of brothers fighting to save Jews during a dark time in human history. Unfortunately the movie did not turn out so well and i was disappointed. Fast forward to about a month ago when i discovered the Audio book the movie was based off of. I decided to give it a read and it was a great read. This should have been developed into a mini series like band of brothers. The story broke down the history of the brothers and their actions throughout the war in the defense of the Jewish people they protected. It showed the hardships, politics, and inside scheming that the brothers had to work through just to keep everyone safe. A story that shows how people could become a beacon of hope during a dark time. All because they thought it was the right thing to do.
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- Ray
- 10-18-09
Good Read
Good book.
It reads more like a memoir than some might expect since a movie has been made from it, but this is a feature, not a flaw.
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- Blake Mooney
- 04-08-21
A little dry, watch movie too
Movie is fantastic, book is a little dry. But an insane story and not too bad of a listen the reader is good but is brought down by the dryness of the book.
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- mikinp
- 07-18-09
Excellent Historically
I really enjoyed listening to this book but kept thinking, if I was reading it I would have been so frustrated with the names & places I would have put it down. Never-the-less, it is an inspiring store the demonstrates the strength and courage that we are capable of under the right circumstances.
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- Chris D. Stevenson
- 08-07-19
Insightful
I have not listened to an account of Jewish people during the Holocaust yet... hearing what they went through... read aloud ... it hits a person in a way that film/interviews do not.
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