The film is based on events which began in August 1941. Nazi (task forces) are sweeping through Eastern Europe, systematically killing Jews. Among the survivors not killed or restricted to ghettoes are the Polish Jewish Bielski brothers: Tuvia (Daniel Craig), Zus (Liev Schreiber), Asael and Aron. Their parents are dead, killed by local police under orders from the German occupiers. The brothers flee to the Naliboki Forest, vowing to avenge the deaths of their parents.