The partisan detachment organized by the Bielski brothers was one of the first in the resistance movement in the Novogrudok area, formed by local residents. Its primary task, according to Tuvia Bielski, the commander, was to save the life of any Jew, regardless of age, gender, or ability to fight.
The organizers of this incredible Jewish detachment were Tuvia, Asael, and Zus Bielski from the village of Stankevichi, 15 km from Novogrudok.
The detachment originated in late May/early June 1942 out of a family group of 20. It soon swelled with Jews fleeing from various area ghettos. By November 1942, there were about 250 people in the Bielski detachment. In the fall of 1942, it joined the "Octyabrski" detachment of the Lenin Brigade, and was registered as the 2nd Company. In May 1943, their numbers had grown to 750 individuals, of whom 300 newcomers had escaped from the Lida ghetto. Unarmed personnel, typically not permitted to join other partisan units - mostly women, old people and children – accounted for 70% of the total number of Bielski partisans.
On June 19, 1943 Bielski partisans were removed from the "Octyabrski" detachment and transferred from the Leninskaya brigade to the Kirov brigade. Simultaneously they were divided into combat and family detachments. The combat unit of 140, called the Ordzhonikidze detachment, remained in the Novogrudok area to conduct operations in tandem with other partisan units, while the family detachment under Tuvia Bielski moved to the dense Naliboki forest.
Having survived the blockade of the Naliboki forest in July-August 1943, the Bielski detachment settled 3.5 km from the village of Kletische. This new camp was in the very heart of the Naliboki Forest. It was surrounded by hundreds of square kilometers of forests and swamps. The whole region was "partisan country" where the Germans did not dare wander.
The forest camp of the Bielski detachment was a shtetl in which dugouts were built in two rows along the main street, along with workshops, a communal kitchen, two hospitals, and a school.
On July 10, 1944 the Bielski partisans finally left their camp in the Naliboki forest, which the locals called "Jerusalem", heading for Novogrudok. Tuvia Bielski disbanded his detachment in the outskirts of town. Partisan certificates were given to 991 people, and the Ordzhonikidze combat detachment numbered 149 people.
