Aron Bielski

Life with the Bielski partisans

The Bielski family were farmers in Stankiewicze near Navahrudak in present-day Belarus, an area that at the beginning of the Second World War belonged to the Second Polish Republic. Aron was born there on July 21, 1927. While Nechama was not able to interview Aron, he was interviewed by Peter Duffy in Duffy's book. That author, in the second authoritative book about the Bielski partisans, mentions Aron about 30 times and lists him as one of the important sources for the book. Duffy also interviewed Bell for the article "Heroes Among Us" (2000), published in The New York Times.

Later life and death After the war, Bielski returned to Poland but soon afterward emigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine. In 1954, he settled in the United States, where he joined his surviving brothers and their families.

In 2007, Bielski and his wife Henryka were charged with exploitation of the elderly, theft, and scheming to defraud after they convinced a Polish Catholic neighbor in Florida, Janina Zaniewska, to give them power of attorney before taking her to Poland and depositing her in a nursing home. A bank manager alerted police after becoming alarmed that the Bielskis were withdrawing Zaniewska's money. Police in Poland were able to locate Zaniewska at the nursing home and allow her to return to her home in America.

In 2008, charges were dropped after the Bielskis agreed to repay Zaniewska over $260,000 that they had been charged for swindling from her.

Aron Bielski died in Palm Beach, Florida on September 22, 2025, at the age of 98.

In popular culture English actor George MacKay portrayed Aron in the film Defiance (2008).