Reviews for The Light Of Days

by Judy Batalion

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Resounding history of Jewish women who fought the German invaders in World War II.The role of women in resisting the genocidal tyranny of the Third Reich has, like so much womens history, been less well documented than the work of their male counterparts. Batalion, the child of Holocaust survivors, notes that an early role model for her was Hannah Senesh, one of the few female resisters in World War II not lost to history, who was captured and executed by the Germans, refusing a blindfold and staring at the bullet straight on. Discovering a Yiddish book called Freuen in di Ghettos (Women in the Ghettos) that had been published immediately after the war introduced the author to many other women fighters who contributed to the Allied war effort, whether by sabotaging German supply trains, smuggling weapons, spying for Russian military intelligence, or killing errant German soldiers. A stellar example is Renia K., whose story, in Batalions hands, is lifted from the footnotes to the text. Eventually captured by the Gestapo, she was asked, Dont you feel its a waste to die so young? She responded, As long as there are people like you in the world, I dont want to live. Surprisingly, she survived, although her story and those of many others were reshaped for political purposes. Those women, Batalion convincingly argues, have often been misrepresented for just those reasons. Many were politically active before the war and even militant, espousing Zionist, socialist, and pioneer values, and some chroniclers have been reluctant to celebrate their work because doing so might unduly judge those who did not resist, ultimately blaming the victim. In a vigorous narrative that draws on interviews, diaries, and other sources, Batalion delivers an objective view of past events that are too quickly being forgottenand a story much in need of telling.A welcome addition to the literature of the Shoah and of anti-Nazi resistance. (20 b/w photos) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.


Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Resounding history of Jewish women who fought the German invaders in World War II. The role of women in resisting the genocidal tyranny of the Third Reich has, like so much women’s history, been less well documented than the work of their male counterparts. Batalion, the child of Holocaust survivors, notes that an early role model for her was Hannah Senesh, “one of the few female resisters in World War II not lost to history,” who was captured and executed by the Germans, refusing a blindfold and “staring at the bullet straight on.” Discovering a Yiddish book called Freuen in di Ghettos (Women in the Ghettos) that had been published immediately after the war introduced the author to many other women fighters who contributed to the Allied war effort, whether by sabotaging German supply trains, smuggling weapons, spying for Russian military intelligence, or killing errant German soldiers. A stellar example is “Renia K.,” whose story, in Batalion’s hands, is lifted “from the footnotes to the text.” Eventually captured by the Gestapo, she was asked, “Don’t you feel it’s a waste to die so young?” She responded, “As long as there are people like you in the world, I don’t want to live.” Surprisingly, she survived, although her story and those of many others were reshaped for political purposes. Those women, Batalion convincingly argues, have often been misrepresented for just those reasons. Many were politically active before the war and even militant, espousing “Zionist, socialist, and pioneer values,” and some chroniclers have been reluctant to celebrate their work because doing so might unduly judge those who did not resist, “ultimately blaming the victim.” In a vigorous narrative that draws on interviews, diaries, and other sources, Batalion delivers an objective view of past events that are too quickly being forgotten—and a story much in need of telling. A welcome addition to the literature of the Shoah and of anti-Nazi resistance. (20 b/w photos) Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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