The film has been criticised in Poland due to its complete omission of all Polish aspects in the narrative , even though the setting is on territory that was part of Poland before the war and inhabited by a large number of ethnic Poles . Specifically , Tuvia was a veteran of the Polish army , and other Polish partisans were also active in the forests of present-day Belarus , but the film only presents the roles of Jews , Russians , and Germans . There was also controversy about the alleged involvement of the Bielski group in a massacre of Polish civilians conducted by Soviet-aligned partisans in Naliboki . The Bielski partisan group was the subject of an official inquiry by the Polish Institute of National Remembrance 's Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation after witnesses testified that Bielski partisans were among the perpetrators of the Naliboki massacre ; however , the investigation found no conclusive evidence linking the Bielski group to the crime
massacre of Polish civilians
Naliboki massacre
Asael Bielski