(1888PressRelease)
December 31, 2008 - NEW YORK: Shor, a member of the Bielski Partisans featured in the new Paramount Pictures movie, "Defiance," was one of only a few women in the encampment to acquire a rifle and a gun to go on dangerous missions. When she heard Rosenblat's claim, she said, "I don't believe it's possible that somebody could be right near the barbed wire of the concentration camp, throwing an apple—it was too heavily guarded."
Essie Shor's own memoir, Essie: The True Story of a Teenage Fighter in the Bielski Partisans is being published by Mindfulness Publishing, of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, in time for the January 16 movie release. Now 83 and living in New York, Essie is thrilled that the movie and her book will help new generations learn this nearly forgotten story of partisan resistance during the Holocaust. The movie “Defiance” directed by Ed Zwick and staring Daniel Craig as Tuvia Bielski her cousin, inspired her to finally publish the memoir she had written years earlier.
In her book, she describes such adventures as
• Seeking help from a stranger in a farm field—and discovering it was her old teacher
• Dodging Nazi patrols on the last day of the war
• Accompanying a group of dangerously drunk Russian partisans—and making her way back when they abandoned her with no transportation
Shor has won kudos from several authors who wrote about the Bielski encampment, including Peter Duffy, author of The Bielski Brothers, and D. Dina Friedman, author of Escaping Into the Night. Her book has been endorsed by Abraham Foxman, National Director of the Anti-Defamation League, who said “Essie Shor has written what would make a great novel, was it not in fact a true story” and called the book "an important contribution to the understanding of the horrors of the Holocaust and the spirit of survival."
Essie Shor has been working closely with Paramount for the past few months, providing background and sitting for a photo shoots with director Ed Zwick. She and her family attended a special preview showing of the movie. "It really was like being there again. Everything—the drama and suspense of being hunter and hunted, the way the woods looked, the actors who portrayed my cousins. They did a great job. I am so thrilled that the world will get to see the story of the Bielski Brothers; through “Defiance”, they saved so many lives. Thousands of children and grandchildren are here today because of the heroism and resistance of the Bielski Partisans during the Holocaust.
Journalists: To arrange an interview and/or a review copy, contact the publisher at
www.essieshor.com Or call (610) 955-2468
Contact: Lora Shor, Mindfulness Publishing
###
