The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters - Judy Batalion

Written by Judy Batalion
Read by Mozhan Marno
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

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

Publisher : HarperAudio
Release date :April 6, 2021
Duration: 14:22:37

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.

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.

“Many books highlight the efforts of underground freedom fighters during WWII, but this audiobook stands out for its focus on young Jewish women in Poland who banded together to aid the resistance and sabotage the Nazi war effort. The result is riveting and benefits from the narration of Mozhan Marno, whose smooth and light delivery complements Batalion’s meticulously researched and artfully written work. The story moves from one tense moment to another and flows because of Marno’s delivery, particularly her ability to transform intense dialogue into memorable moments. Perhaps Marno’s best attribute is her use of inflection and tone during situations when the women, whose efforts were often unknown and unheralded, faced and confronted and outsmarted their Nazi oppressors.”— AudioFile