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

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!Also on the USA Today | Washington Post | Boston Globe | Globe and Mail | Publishers Weekly | and Indie bestseller lists.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 | 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.  NPR's Best Books of 2021National Jewish Book Award | 2021Canadian Jewish Literary Award | 2021. .