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Blog by Don Kennedy

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Defiance

Defiance unlike the former fictional westerns of the same name is the harrowing true survival story set during the Second World War of a group of Jews who in 1941 eluded the Nazi ghettos near Belarus by literally heading for the hills. After returning to their bucolic village just after it was wiped out by the SS, four brothers who knew the woods intimately (having taken flight there more than once just a few steps ahead of the law) made tracks for the safety of their forest familiar only to find others not so adept at roughing it also hiding out. They came to rely on the Bielski brothers especially Zus (Liev Schreiber) and Tuvia (Daniel Craig) to stay alive. From this small beginning and with Tuvia as reluctant figurehead, soon more refugees joined the clan which began taking on a paramilitary vibe. As the numbers began to swell politics became something to deal with which sometimes lead to harsh discipline and eventually brother rivalling brother. Defiance is an amazing story but at 2 hours and 24 minutes it does take a little too long to tell. The more amazing span of time is how long this compelling story took to come to light which it now finally has thanks to the grandchildren of the principals.

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