This story was intense to write. It mattered a lot to me to do it. A few years ago, I read an article about how tiring it was, as a Jew, to constantly watch Holocaust movies that were about the goyische savior. I haven't stopped thinking about it since I read it. 1/ https://twitter.com/crossing_winter/status/1313495843438317568

I think a lot about the power of fiction and how it affects understanding of the historical narrative. Jews hid in the woods, they joined partisan movements, they formed their own partisan movements, and they didn't just survive, they fought back. 2/

If the historical and cultural documentation of Ashkenazim was summarily destroyed, the oral narrative persisted and it wasn't uniform. I think that people fixate upon the—extremely important—dominant narrative of the camps, of the hiding, of the helpers who saved lives. 3/

But sometimes I think that—beyond the Jewish community—understanding of the fighting back goes away. It is overpowered by narratives like "Inglorious Basterds" or "Schindler's List." People don't remember that the movie "Defiance" was based on a true story.