Aron Bell, last of the Bielski brothers whose famed brigade saved 1,200 Jews, dies at 98

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Aron Bell pose for a photo at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow, Russia on June 4, 2019. Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

Sign up for Forwarding the News, our essential morning briefing with trusted, nonpartisan news and analysis, curated by Senior Writer Benyamin Cohen.

(JTA) — Aron Bell, a Holocaust survivor and last remaining brother of the famed Bielski partisans who saved more than 1,200 Jews from the Nazis during the Holocaust, has died at 98.

Bell, who later changed his name from Aron Bielski, was born in 1927 in Stankiewicze, part of present-day Belarus, as the youngest of 10 brothers and two sisters.

After the German army arrived in Stankiewicze in July 1941, the town’s Jews were imprisoned in the Novogrudok ghetto. Two of Bell’s siblings, Abraham and Yankel, were murdered in the village, and his parents, David and Bella, were murdered in a mass killing there in December 1941.

The older Bielski brothers — Asael, Tuvia and Alexander or “Zus” — fled to the nearby forest to escape the Nazis, and Aron joined them. Forming the Bielski Brigade, one of the largest rescue efforts of Jews during the Holocaust, together they provided refuge for more than 1,200 Jews.

“If you were in the company of those three brothers, you felt like you had a whole army behind you, you were fearless,” said Bell in his 1996 testimony to the USC Shoah Foundation.

At the forest settlement, where the group established workshops, a bakery, a school and a hospital, Bell, who was only 11 or 12 at the time, played a key role in sneaking into the nearby ghetto to encourage fellow Jews to escape.

In his diary, his brother Tuvia wrote, “It is Aron who brings life into the community. He finds other survivors and introduces them to our district.”

Bell was the last surviving brother of the brigade. Asael died in 1945 after being conscripted into the Soviet Red Army. Tuvia died in 1987, followed by Zus in 1995.

The brothers’ tale of defiance also inspired several adaptations of their story, including the books “The Bielski Brothers” by Peter Duffy and “Defiance: The Bielski Partisans” by Nechama Tec, which was later made into the 2008 film “Defiance” with actor George MacKay portraying Bell.

Following the war, Bell immigrated to British Mandate Palestine and served in the army during Israel’s War of Independence in 1948. In 1954, he moved to the United States where he married his first wife, Judith, with whom he had three children.

A decades-long resident of Palm Beach, Florida, Bell also frequently spoke to schoolchildren about his experiences during the Holocaust, and wrote two books, including “Forest Scout: Reminiscences” and “Between Hitler and Stalin.”

In 2007, Bell and his second wife, Henryka, were charged with exploitation of the elderly, theft, and scheming to defraud after they convinced a 93-year-old Catholic Holocaust survivor to give them power of attorney and began withdrawing her money. The next year, the charges were dropped after the couple agreed to repay the woman $260,000 in stolen funds.

“With heavy hearts, we announce the passing of Aron, one of the forest partisans and the last of the brothers to survive,” said his wife, Henryka Bell, in a statement. “His strength, resilience, and love will remain forever in our hearts. We are grateful for your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.”

Bell is survived by his wife, his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.