Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation

Social Studies Resource Provider

Jewish Partisans Who Helped Make the World Safe for Democracy

JPEF develops and distributes effective educational materials about the Jewish partisans and their life lessons, bringing the celebration of heroic resistance against tyranny into educational and cultural organizations.

Most people have never heard of the 20,000-30,000 Jews who fought back against the Nazis as Jewish partisans. These Jews were responsible for blowing up thousands of armored convoys and thwarting the Nazi war machine in countless ways, including rescuing people from the ghettos, procuring food and medicine, tending to wounded soldiers, sabotaging German communications and supply lines, punishing collaborators, sheltering civilians and saving thousands of Jewish lives. Learning about who these partisans were and what they accomplished has the power to transform people's perception of the Jewish experience during the Holocaust.

The Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation (JPEF) has produced a comprehensive and thought-provoking curriculum called RESIST, designed to transmit the enduring understandings arising from the stories of the Jewish partisans. The curriculum includes 12 original documentary films, lesson plans, study guides and the video testimonies of more than 50 Jewish partisans. With layers of interactivity unprecedented in most any curriculum, RESIST is designed for 6th–12th-grade students in formal and informal settings and is implemented in Jewish and secular schools worldwide.

Partnerships

Since 2000, JPEF has brought the inspiring Jewish partisan legacy to approximately 20,000 educators and more than one million young people. Its innovative educational materials on the wartime resistance of the Jewish partisans—and their lessons of courage, and perseverance—strengthen critical thinking, foster increased self-esteem, and promote ethical decision-making, empowering students to stand up and make a difference.

Today, JPEF is reaching tens of thousands more educators and students through our partnerships with national and regional organizations, including the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Facing History and Ourselves, Scholastic, Inc., Americans All, American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors, the Illinois Holocaust Museum, the Museum of Jewish Heritage, the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center and many others around the world.

Legacy Stories from the Americans All Heritage Honor Roll

We are pleased to host and share these legacy stories created by honorees’ family, friends and associates. They, like us, appreciate that heritage and culture are an integral part of our nation's social fabric and want to help students participate effectively in our nation's economy, workforce and democracy.

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Frank Blaichman New York (December 11, 1922 - December 27, 2018) Poland, Jewish Partisan Platoon Commander, World War II, Author, JPEF

Born in the small town of Kamionka, Poland, on December 11, 1922, Frank Blaichman was sixteen years old when the German army invaded his country in September 1939. The several hundred Jews of Kamionka had lived a peaceful life prior to the invasion, experiencing few incidents of antisemitism. Frank’s grandmother owned a grocery store, and his father made a living buying grain from farmers in the area, selling it in nearby towns and in the city of Lublin.

Gertrude "Gertie" Boyarski New York (October 1, 1922 - September 19, 2012) Poland, Jewish Partisan, Holocaust Survivor, Order of Lenin, JPEF, World War II

“Was it possible that I lived through that?” asks Gertrude Boyarski, referring to her experiences during World War II. “Sometimes I say, ‘Was it only a nightmare, or was it true?’” Her family’s hardships began in 1939 when war came to Poland. Gertrude was sixteen years old when her country was attacked from the west by Germany, and then from the east by the Soviet Union. Her hometown of Derechin . . .

Ben Kamm California (March 21, 1921 - November 8, 2010) Poland, Jewish Partisan, World War II, Warsaw, JPEF

Ben Kamm was 18-years-old when the Germans invaded. Life had been good to him until that point. He lived in a comfortable apartment with his parents and four younger brothers. His grandfather owned the building, which also housed his extended family. Ben’s father ran a thriving family meat business but faced constant antisemitism. He and his fellow Jews were taunted constantly. As he put it, “We were abused every single day . . .

Sonia "Sarah" Shainwald Orbuch California (May 24, 1927 - September 30, 2018) Jewish, Poland, JPEF, Soviet Partisan Fighter, World War II

Sonia Shainwald Orbuch (born Sarah) grew up in Luboml, a small market town 200 miles from Warsaw, Poland, with a thriving population of about 8,000, two-thirds of whom were Jewish. Her family lived near the center of the town on #37 Chelmska Street, near her many friends and relatives. Inside their modest home, Sonia grew up under the caring watch of her tightly-knit family. “My older brother, Shneyer, used to take care of me all the time . . . ”