For two winters, my unit of 340 partisans lived in the Bryansk forests — the largest forest in Europe. We had no formal supply line. We ate what we could hunt, forage, and steal. We cut German railway lines an average of twice a week. The Germans called it 'the Bandenland' — bandit country — and sent 30,000 troops specifically to pacify us. They never did. What the history books don't tell you: we had families with us. Forty-two children lived in those forests. We had a school — two hours a day, under the trees. We had a newspaper. A theater troupe performed for us. We even had a small printin...