During World War II, in the forests of Belorussia, a Russian Army officer comes across a ragtag band of Jews who are standing up to the Nazis.

“Jews don’t fight,” he sneers.

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Karen Ballard/Paramount Vantage

Liev Schreiber (left) and Daniel Craig are two of the three Bielski brothers who live in the woods with fellow Jews in ‘Defiance.’

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“These Jews do,” answers Tuvia (Daniel Craig), their leader.

“Defiance,” which opens Friday, is the true story of the Bielski brothers, three tough, scrappy Jews who fought the Nazis and saved more than 1,000 fellow Jews from the death camps. Directed by Ed Zwick (“Glory,” “Blood Diamonds”), it’s a righteous, rousing, very earnest throwback of a movie.

Many of the Jews in “Defiance” are portrayed as much less passive than in some Holocaust movies.

Craig in particular brings his ruthless gaze and easy machismo to the movie; you would follow him into battle, no questions asked. One might suspect revisionism, but it’s based on a respected history by scholar and Holocaust survivor Nechama Tec.

“Defiance” is the third Nazi-themed movie released in the past month. “Valkyrie,” starring Tom Cruise, was about good Nazis vs. bad Nazis; “The Reader,” for which Kate Winslet just won a Golden Globe, was about good Germans and bad Germans and how hard it once was to figure out which was which; “Defiance” has the biggest tapestry of the three, and there won’t be any doubt in the audience whom to root for.