Judy Batalion's "The Light of Days": An Inspiring Tale of Women Who Fought Back Against Nazi Oppression in the Ghettos

Judith B. Espinoza: This story was heartbreaking for me to read. The description of brutality over and over again almost made me want to give up reading. But I thought… these brave women lived it, I could at least, honor their sacrifices by reading it. What a great inspiration for those of us who carry a more passive attitude toward things that don’t seem to affect us personally. It’s a story that changes you.

United States on Aug 17, 2023

Dawna Robertson: For readers who want to choose just one book on the Holocaust, “The Light of Days” is probably the best documentation of Nazi horrors against the Jews. Buckle up; these young women of the Polish resistance exemplify superhuman character and resilience in the face of sadistic barbarism. There is no glossing over the degradation imposed by nazis. Needless to say, this is a book that will be banned throughout Florida, or anywhere else that seeks to elevate neonazi authoritarian rule.

United States on Jul 30, 2023

Amazon Customer: Um história necessária e reveladora dos bastidores da luta de verdadeiras heroínas para salvar as vítimas da brutalidade nazista. Uma história de coragem, nobreza,lealdade, amor, meio a provavelmente o período mais horrível da história do século vinte.

Brazil on Jul 21, 2023

Terrie: I was amazed at the well-documented stories of many different Jewish women from Poland who came from varied backgrounds but all had to face the awful effects of Nazi Germany and Hitler’s determination to kill every Jewish person who lived.

The very complicated material was covered by the author in such a clear and exciting and detailed way I could hardly put down my ebook! I couldn’t wait to know what happened next. Each chapter tells us who the chapter is about and gives the date and a word or two hint at what is going to happen in that chapter.

It was very interesting to hear about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising from the perspective of the women who were so brave in sneaking out to buy guns, get food, acquire forged identity papers, etc. They would disguise themselves as Poles or Christians and carry forged ID papers and try not to get stopped by the police.

When a person is discovered by the Nazis and killed, it is very sad for her family members, some of whom we know in the book. And I would be sad myself because I thought this person would never be captured!

I was disappointed to come to the end of the book but happy that some of the Jewish women I...

United States on Jul 16, 2023

Patty: It took me a long time to get into this book. It starts by introducing a few young women who were in Zionist groups before the war and who worked as community leaders, smugglers, and couriers in Poland through the war. But it jumped between them and introduced heaps of new names and places quickly and I soon had no idea who was who or where any of them lived. I was only able to get engaged when I gave up on keeping characters straight and just read to learn about events.

Which were horrific. As you would expect, life in the ghettos was grueling and cruel. The majority of these young women had lost everyone in their family, so the rebel groups became their new family.

I knew little about the uprising(s) and this gave a ground eye view of it. It also got across why there weren't more of them.

And the last chapters tell the after-war stories of the surviving characters, and how their experiences shaped the rest of their lives.

Overall, worthwhile for someone interested in the subject, but the style and organization was not optimal. A good editor could have helped a lot.

Canada on May 08, 2023

Angela: A fascinating expose of life in the ghettos and the the rebellion in Warsaw.
At times, because of the subject matter, it was a difficult read. The subject has been meticulously researched and the supporting notes and bibliography provide plenty of sources for further reading.
I found the narrative voice quite shouty and harsh and, by the time I got to the end of the book, I felt mentally weary. Perhaps was the intention.

United Kingdom on Dec 04, 2022

Lew Craig: In the mid-1960s, I read Mila 18 about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. I was deeply moved. Now, almost 60 years later, I just finished The Light of Days. Its impact on me was tremendous especially because I read it during the Ukrainian invasion. I am confident many of the same things are happening now. Usually, we read about events like the uprising and think of men fighting men. This book emphasized the women who were involved and their story is heartbreaking, but also inspiring.

This is a hard book to read. It pulls no punches as it annotates what the women went through. Many gave their lives and suffered many indignities. All of them lost family members, friends, and loved ones. It is at best a tragic story about people you will feel are friends by the end of the book. Most of all, it is a story about what people will do to retain their freedom and dignity. I've read many excellent books about World War II. This is at the top of the list. There is a young adult version for those who may not want some of the gory details, however, sometimes life is gory.

Some reviewers have claimed that the book jumps around from person to person. I think the author made a good...

United States on Mar 04, 2022

Gabriel Stein: I really wanted to like this book. I had read good reviews and looked forward to reading it. Also, my parents were both Holocaust survivors. However, fairly early in I began to be irritated by the author’s very stupid and elementary mistakes. We read that one of the main characters is told in 1943 “to use a passport to leave Poland for The Hague, home to the United Nations International Court of Justice.” In 1943, The Hague was occupied by the Germans; the United Nations did not exist; and nor did the International Court of Justice. Its predecessor, the Permanent Court of International Justice, did exist, but did not meet during the war.

The author refers to volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) but consistently misspells it. Similarly the surname of Mordechai Anielewicz, commander of the ZOB during the wars Ghetto rising, is constantly misspelled. Presumably because the author has transcribed these words herself from Yiddish and never bothered to look up the correct spelling.

The Communist resistance is referred to as the Armja Ludowa in 1943. But at that stage, it was not yet called the Armja Ludowa(the People’s Army) but the Gwardia Ludowa (the People’s...

United Kingdom on Dec 09, 2021

Bellacoscia: C'est le hasard qui a mis entre les mains de Mme Batalion un petit livre en yiddisch, passé inaperçu et vite oublié après la 2e guerre mondiale. Il parlait des filles des ghettos juifs de la Pologne occupée par les nazis, des filles qui avaient préféré le combat au découragement et à la soumission. Ce n'était pas, pour lors, un sujet très "vendeur". Des années de recherches de Mme Batalion permettent de sortir de l'ombre et peut-être de sauver de l'oubli les noms de quelques-unes de ces filles, dont certaines ont vécu leurs derniers instants en faisant feu, parfois des deux mains. Il est bon qu'on rende justice aux braves.

France on Jul 01, 2021

Old Bubbadoc: I almost never write book reviews. But this excellently researched and studious work is a remarkable story about remarkable women written by a remarkable author. It should be read by everyone irrespective of nationality, ethnicity or religious affiliation. This book will make you cry, angry, sick, horrified, elated and disillusioned. The unbelievable but true details in this story will haunt you. I am not a Jew nor do I have any Jewish ancestry. But I was drawn to this story by its powerful universal message and I was much affected by it. As an accomplished researcher and successful author I have only the greatest regard for the author's dedication and skills in carrying out this difficult work. But I found the book a bit distracting to read because of the jargon, the unfamiliar terms and names, the many times when the details overwhelmed the theme and the lack of connections between the chapters. Having said this, I quickly admit that these faults are a natural consequence of a book that is a collection of well researched case studies. Perhaps the book might have been more readable by the general public if written more prosaically. Be a persistent reader; the deeper you read into...

United States on Apr 20, 2021