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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 … 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, taught children, and hid families.
Yet the exploits of these courageous resistance fighters have remained virtually unknown.
As propulsive and thrilling as Hidden Figures, In the Garden of Beasts, and Band of Brothers, 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, featuring twenty black-and-white photographs, 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.
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This book was extremely upsetting. Although it was true to life, it is hard to read.
The Light of Days is part inspirational, 100 percent educational, part depressing, and overall mind boggling. The story of the Jewish resistance within Poland, and the courageous efforts a small number of Jews, many of them women, to not go down without a fight is the inspirational part. The Light of Days focuses on the role of women in the resistance, and the many roles they played: courier, spy, bomber, organizer, rescuer and so much more. These women went largely unsung, unheard of, and The Light of Day is the first attempt (that I know of) to address that error. It is not easy reading, and there aren’t lots of happy endings, but it is absolutely a “must read”. Beautifully written, well researched, theirs is a story you’ll want to know.
The Light of Days is an exceptionally well-researched non-fiction book about Jewish women in Poland and their innumerable contributions to the Nazi resistance movement during WWII. It is a heavy read in every way; there are lots of facts and details, and because of the subject matter, this book takes an emotional toll on the reader. Neither of those comments is negative, but if you’re looking for a light historical-fiction read, this isn’t it!
This is the first book about WWII of the many I have read to pay homage to these strong and unbelievably brave women. I am glad we finally get to read their stories! They risked everything they had, putting themselves in mortal danger and fear of discovery constantly to stand up and fight the enemy. What courage, what strength, what self-sacrifice! It is amazing and inspirational to see the difference that can be made by “ordinary” people rising up to meet the circumstances of their times.
This is a book that should to be read so that we never forget the evil that ran rampant in that era and the horrors that it created. May it never be repeated!
My sincere thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow Publishers for allowing me to read an e-copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions expressed are my own.
horror, resistance-efforts, bravery, historical-places-events, historical-research, history-and-culture, history, Poland, criminal-acts, Jewish, Jewish-law, murder, gestapo, women, World War 2, biography, memoir, forgery, nonfiction*****
Even Stephen King cannot duplicate the horror of reality. This is a book filled with horror and hope, not to mention man’s inhumanity toward other humans.
Each woman portrayed is real and the research was as intricate as any forensic study and the brief creative forays (conversations and such) make it somewhat less nauseating.
In an afterward, the author explains that she took 12 years to write the book, most of it spent researching diaries, memoirs, testimonies, books, and writings in a variety of languages, including English, Yiddish, German, Hebrew, Polish and Russian. She also traveled around the world to meet the descendants of the featured women, sifted through photographs and letters, and learned how the ladies lived during the post-war phase of their lives. Many of the women suffered from survivor’s guilt and/or mental illness, and some committed suicide.
I don’t know how Mozhan Marno was able to narrate this so well. She is truly a voice actor.
I requested and received a free temporary audio copy from Harper Audio via NetGalley. Thank you!
The more that I read of WW2 the more I can’t understand the level of madness and craziness of these people?????
The Light of Days is the true story of the Jewish women in Poland who were a HUGE key in WW2 but as always being a woman our stories always get forgotten or they really don’t matter to the world.. this is exactly the case of all these magnificent women who fought so hard to help and did many courageous things to help but they were never recognized or even known about. Friendship, loyalty, and faith even strength is what permeates the whole book.
they lived so many terrible things, some of them were only teenagers and had to grow in a matter of hours, they saw many cruel things, evil things that will stay forever with them, hunting them like a horror movie on repeat..
The Jewish Women In Poland, their stories were shadowed by many political agendas, they were hidden or erase, Judy really did an amazing job not only bringing the stories to life but recognizing the true value of these magnificent women, women that should be recognized in museums and history books but with time man has erased or even not talked about.
I cried so much with every story, I really didn’t know many of the things in The Light of the Days, I heard so many atrocities but the ones in these stories are just too much, I still in shock with the evilness, how they really didn’t have a piece of heart in them, what they did to the babies, that was too much way too much, I literally spend the whole book crying and screaming and swearing to every Nazi, I still can’t believe some of them still alive how could they live with themselves?
I’m so glad Karma is so real I bet these guys will have to reincarnate like 1000000 times and not even with that many lifetimes they will pay for what they did.
This is a great book, if you’re looking to get inspired by true courageous women, women who will give everything to survive and help their families and loves ones even friends to survive this is a great book.
I was going to write a very different review as I was so angry reading the madness of those people but I’m glad I waited as I wanted to focus all my love on these women rather than expressing my anger and hate toward the evilness.
to the author Judy Batalion, thank you for writing this book, for letting us know the stories of these wonderful women who deserve so much more thank you for giving them a voice.