The Light of Days

The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler's Ghettos

By: Judy Batalion

Narrated by: Mozhan Marno

Length: 14 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

One of the most important stories of World War II, already optioned by Steven Spielberg for a major motion picture: a spectacular, searing history that brings to light the extraordinary accomplishments of brave Jewish women who became resistance fighters - a group of unknown heroes whose exploits have never been chronicled in full, until now.

Witnesses to the brutal murder of their families and neighbors and the violent destruction of their communities, a cadre of Jewish women in Poland - some still in their teens - helped transform the Jewish youth groups into resistance cells to fight the Nazis. With courage, guile, and nerves of steel, these “ghetto girls” paid off Gestapo guards, hid revolvers in loaves of bread and jars of marmalade, and helped build systems of underground bunkers. They flirted with German soldiers, bribed them with wine, whiskey, and home cooking, used their Aryan looks to seduce them, and shot and killed them. They bombed German train lines and blew up a town’s water supply. They also nursed the sick and taught children.

Yet the exploits of these courageous resistance fighters have remained virtually unknown.

As propulsive and thrilling as Hidden Figures, In the Garden of Beasts, Band of Brothers, and A Train in Winter, The Light of Days at last tells the true story of these incredible women whose courageous yet little-known feats have been eclipsed by time. Judy Batalion - the granddaughter of Polish Holocaust survivors - takes us back to 1939 and introduces us to Renia Kukielka, a weapons smuggler and messenger who risked death traveling across occupied Poland on foot and by train. Joining Renia are other women who served as couriers, armed fighters, intelligence agents, and saboteurs, all who put their lives in mortal danger to carry out their missions. Batalion follows these women through the savage destruction of the ghettos, arrest, and internment in Gestapo prisons and concentration camps, and for a lucky few - like Renia, who orchestrated her own audacious escape from a brutal Nazi jail - into the late 20th century and beyond.

Powerful and inspiring, The Light of Days is an unforgettable true tale of war, the fight for freedom, exceptional bravery, female friendship, and survival in the face of staggering odds.

©2020 Judy Batalion (P)2020 HarperAudio

Hard to even imagine

History should never be forgotten. The author's undertaking of this story is monumental. Heart breaking and comprehensive.

Necessary Reading-or Listening

Very well written and narrated. Both writer and narrator had their hearts in this project which brought these true heroes to light. People whose names we should know, whose deeds need to be well known, appreciated and admired. Many thanks and blessings to Ms. Batalion for this book.

Excellent and detailed book about Polish Jewish girls and women resistance fighters; a must read

I was truly enthralled, encouraged and pained by the stories of so many Polish Jewish girls and women resistance fighters. The stories truly need to be told again and again.
At the same time as I listen to their emigration to Palestine and Israel, I am pained by the occupation and sometimes brutality of Palestinian Christians, Muslims and secularists in their own land by the Israeli government.

I can’t help but think about Palestinians whose homes that were taken from them without compensation or choice in Palestine to make way for Jewish people, and whose homes and land are still being taken from them without choice by Israelis in Palestinian homeland.
My feelings are rife with conflict.

Amazing women.

This is a great work of history. I can appreciate all the research it took to present a compelling story these amazing women. The narration was good and kept your interest . I highly recommend this book.

Devastating & Inspirational Beyond All Expectations

I’ve read many personal accounts bearing witness to the unspeakable horrors & atrocities during the Holocaust. This book was one of the most powerful & visceral accounts. I had to listen slowly in small daily segments, as the stories and descriptions were at times almost unbearably sad and/or horrifyingly brutal. Other stories described extreme courage, exceptionally selfless acts of compassion, generosity, kindness, and extreme personal sacrifices. Bravo to the author for bringing the previously untold stories of these amazing women to light. The narration of this book must have been extremely challenging on an emotional level, given the content, but the narrator did a masterful job. Five radiant stars.

Just When You Thought You Knew Everything About the Holocaust

This was one if the most difficult emotionally books to read, there are only two others that I can say this about, having read scores during my life. Meticulously researched, female empowering, angering, sobering, grateful for these women for letting us see from first person witnesses the savagery, the horrors, the complete wonderment of how survivors were able to continue. To think how women are treated today, ‘chained’ women, where the rabbinical authorities move, if at all, at snails pace, these women who risked everything during the Holocaust might have very well have saved an ancestor of someone who is denying a woman’s freedom at this very moment. A thank you to the author, Judy Batalion , for yes, bringing these facts, these stories, to ‘light’.

Amazing and important addition to Holocaust lit

Incredible story and recommend any and all to read for inspiration and resilience in the face of such abject horror.

The only criticism of the audible version was the reader’s slight mispronunciation of some of the Hebrew words like Eretz Yisrael or aliyah.

Amazing, amazing, amazing

I've read tens of dozens of books about the people of WWII. This is one of the best. You feel their pain, you experience it with them. Heartbreaking, but something everyone should experience through the written or spoken word. Too many people don't think it happened, don't think it could happen again, and/or, don't see it happening today. This will make you feel proud of what people can do, and especially, what women can do.

A powerful testimony of survival

This book has no here say but gives personal accounts from the survivors - which is unique. It is inspiring and transforms the reader into the brutal world of no hope under a cruel regime of annihilation and oppression. A factual account of Poland before, during and after WW2. Beautifully narrated - well worth getting the audible version. Unforgettable.

Scholarly

This was a well written scholarly work with a tremendous amount of research. Amazing story but hard to read at times and the reader was hard to listen to for long periods.