“The Light of Days” illuminates WWII heroines

Review of Judy Batalion’s book featured in November as part of the Jewish Book Festival

Review by Carole J Greene

Some 75 years after World War II, the world is well aware of the atrocities discovered in the camps — disease, starvation, slave labor, torture, murder. Yet, we continue to read about these horrors. Holocaust stories still lure millions of readers. Why?

One reason we gravitate to such tales comes down to our desire to root for the underdog, to see the successes — few though they may be — of the resistance fighters against their destroyers. As Judy Batalion tells us in “The Light of Days,” readers may interpret merely staying alive as courageous resistance.

We also read Holocaust stories to pay tribute to the authors who, undaunted by the miseries they uncover, produce incredible research. Hallelujah to Batalion for her perseverance to trace, through obscure sources published in Yiddish, Hebrew, Polish and English, the paths of young Jewish women in clandestine battle against Nazis committed to “the Final Solution.”

To attract readers to horrendous stories of misery, an author needs to call on all her creative powers to produce a sturdy trellis on which to hang these accounts. Batalion weaves her framework with dates, taking readers from the first days of the war in Poland — September 1939 — when the invading German army overran Bedzin, to a year or two after the war, as she chronicles how her heroines who survived resettle and begin their new lives. She inserts into these dates the heroic actions of the young women, who are ever aware that torture and death lie but one mistake away.

Some work behind the scenes to inspire and encourage such resistance groups as The Young Guard, Freedom, the ZOB (Jewish Fighting Organization) and others. Those women, whose features allow them to “pass” as Aryan, venture into the world. They use stolen or forged ID documents, feminine wiles and bribes to deliver their messages, money, and sometimes, weapons.

Now to the heroines themselves. Batalion details the exploits of 18 major players in this drama, with supporting roles from a few others. Zivia becomes a Freedom leader in the ZOB and the Warsaw ghetto uprising. Renia acts as a reliable courier for Freedom in Bedzin. Her older sister, Sarah, a Freedom comrade, cares for Jewish orphans in Bedzin. Tosia, a leader in The Young Guard, quickly ascends into the role of its main courier. Bela, a Freedom courier, travels repeatedly between Gorno, Vilna and Bialystok.

Other young women — mostly in their late teens and 20s — flow in and out as the war escalates and the need for resistance fighters mushrooms.

You can hear more about these brave women at the Jewish Book Festival as Judy Batalion comes to Naples virtually to pay tribute to the heroines of her book and answer your questions.

Get your ticket or become a patron now for the Thursday, Dec. 2, 2 p.m. presentation. Click on Jewishbookfestival. org. Ten dollars gets you a ticket for this event or — a much better deal — you could choose to become a patron (starting at $118) and receive tickets to hear all 17 Festival authors.