In late 1941, the first Jews from the towns of Lithuania made their way to the forests, mostly as individuals or in small groups. They were soon joined by escapees from the Vilna Ghetto. Some of them formed family camps; others joined partisan brigades. In August 1943, a group of fighters from the United Partisan Organization (FPO) in Vilna, under Josef Glazman, went to the Narocz Forest and formed a Jewish partisan brigade called Nekama (Hebrew for "Revenge"), with about 200 fighters. About two months later, the brigade was disbanded by order of the Soviets. In September and October, additional Vilna FPO groups went to the Rudniki Forests. In all, the Jews of Vilna established four brigades under the auspices of the Soviet and Lithuanian partisan movement, with a total of 400 persons.
