Reading

The Importance of the Partisans

Learn about the key role that the partisans played in saving the lives of many Jews, Gentiles, and Greek citizens.

Last Updated: May 13, 2016

Reading

Language

English — US

Subject

History

Resistance
The Holocaust

Sara Fortis was born in Chalkis, a small town near Athens, Greece. When the Nazis invaded in 1941, Sara fled. While on the run, she agreed to join the resistance. In her new position, Sara recruited other women and formed an all-female partisan unit. Here, she reflects on the importance of the partisans in Greece.

Without them, without the partisans, many Jews would have died or shared the fate of the Jews of Thessaloniki at Auschwitz. And they weren't the only ones; [also] many gentiles and many Greek people. They captured Greeks along with the Jews, those who helped the Jews, those who resisted—it was a very grave matter.¹

1© Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

Facing History & Ourselves, "The Importance of the Partisans," last updated May 12, 2020.

This reading contains text not authored by Facing History & Ourselves. See footnotes for source information.

Lesson

Students connect themes from the film to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's concept of “single stories," and then consider what it would take to tell more equitable and accurate narratives.

Lesson

Students view the film, analyze a primary source from the Oyneg Shabes archive, and consider why it matters who tells the stories of the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto.

Unit

Invite students to reflect on why it matters who tells our stories as they view a documentary film about the profound courage and resistance of the Oyneg Shabes in the Warsaw ghetto.

Collection

Find interview transcripts, historical overviews, and primary source documents about a particular Jewish partisan or country.

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Unit

Explore the stories of Jewish partisans that stood against Nazi oppression, genocide, and antisemitism during World War II.

Assessment

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Mini-Unit

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Lesson

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Mini-Lesson

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Mini-Lesson

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Mini-Lesson

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Lesson

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The Importance of the Partisans

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The Importance of the Partisans

At a Glance

Language

Subject

How to Cite This Reading

You might also be interested in…

Telling Our Histories

Watching Who Will Write Our History

Teaching Who Will Write Our History

Explore the Partisans

Resistance during the Holocaust: An Exploration of the Jewish Partisans

Contextualizing a Found Poem

The Holocaust and Jewish Communities in Wartime North Africa

10 Questions for the Past: The 1963 Chicago Public Schools Boycott

Indigenous Rights and Controversy over Hawaii’s Maunakea Telescope

Black Women’s Activism and the Long History Behind #MeToo

Confronting History, Transforming Monuments

The Anti-lynching Activism of Ida B. Wells

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