Lilith
March 22, 2021
Judy Batalion is a first-class disrupter. In her fascinating—and essential—new book, The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in in Hitler’s Ghettos(HarperCollins, $28.99) she cracks the myth of Jewish victimhood—and in particular Jewish women’s victimhood—wide open, and recounts so many instances of cunning and chutzpah that it will upend everything you thought you knew about the subject.
Read MoreHadassah Magazine
March 2021
It has been nearly 40 years since philosopher Joan Ringelheim and historian Esther Katz brought together Holocaust studies and women’s studies in the conference “Women Surviving: The Holocaust,” highlighting the lack of scholarship on gender issues during the cataclysm. Integrating women’s stories into Holocaust history is an ongoing task, and Judy Batalion’s extraordinary new book, The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler’s Ghettos (HarperCollins), is an important part of the continuum of research begun at that historic 1983 conference in New York City.
Read MoreHey Alma
March 19, 2021
During World War II, armed resistance leader Zivia Lubetkin attacked German soldiers as they attempted to round up residents of the Warsaw Ghetto. Then she led fellow Jews to safety through the city’s sewer system.
Read MoreNew York Times
March 18, 2021
In 1943, Niuta Teitelbaum strolled into a Gestapo apartment on Chmielna Street in central Warsaw and faced three Nazis. A 24-year-old Jewish woman who had studied history at Warsaw University, Niuta was likely now dressed in her characteristic guise as a Polish farm girl with a kerchief tied around her braided blond hair.
Read MoreBustle
February 24, 2021
Renia Kukielka. Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell. Louise Little. Many may have forgotten their names and deeds, but these strong and influential women have been resurrected in a slate of new nonfiction titles. If your TBR needs a little nonfiction TLC, consider adding one of these seven books that celebrate history’s forgotten women to your list.
Read MoreDeadline
November 2, 2020
EXCLUSIVE: Amblin Partners is developing a screen adaptation to the soon to be released The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler’s Ghettos from Canadian-born author Judy Batalion. The book documents the stories of female Jewish resistance fighters who served as saboteurs, couriers, and caretakers of those in hiding during the occupation of Poland during World War II.
Read MoreBooklist
June 1, 2020
Stories of Jewish women who resisted the Nazi regime have been woefully neglected in modern history. Their truths were overshadowed by male counterparts, censored, criticised, and occasionally regarded as outright false. Batalion (White Walls, 2016) sheds light on courageous women who came face-to-face with evil and refused to back down.
Read MoreThe Independent
May 29, 2020
Female suffering – and bravery – are themes running through some of the best novels and non-fiction books in June, another month in which publishers, booksellers and authors have battled the knock-on effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Judy Batalion has written a fascinating history about a little-known group who took on the Nazis.
Read MoreReal Simple
June 2020
Ghetto Girls: Judy Batalion, the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, documents the true story of a group of women resistance fighters during WWII. The Light of Days is about friendship, courage, love, loyalty, and resilience — and is written so vividly, it makes perfect sense Steven Spielberg has already optioned it.
Read MoreLibrary Journal
May 1, 2020
The month-long uprising that followed, as well as other acts of both visible and hidden defiance that occurred in Poland and other parts of Europe throughout World War II, form the backdrop for this fascinating account of the women involved in these resistance movements.
Read MorePublishers Weekly
March 28, 2020
Memoirist Batalion (White Walls) delivers a remarkable portrait of young Jewish women who fought in the Polish resistance during WWII.
Read MoreKirkus Book Review
February 24, 2020
“A welcome addition to the literature of the Shoah and of anti-Nazi resistance.”
Resounding history of Jewish women who fought the German invaders in World War II.
Read MoreThe Hollywood Reporter
February 8, 2018
The director's company has optioned the forthcoming book 'Daughters of the Resistance.'
Steven Spielberg is going back to World War II, this time with a female-centric point of view.
Read MoreBrightly
November 1, 2016
‘Tis the time of year when “Best of the Year” lists, written and compiled by book critics and scholars, start coming out. While I sometimes find new titles from these roundups to add to my wish lists, I prefer to hear what “real” people loved — the books they deem the most thrilling, most entertaining, or most informative of the year.
Read MoreLos Angeles Review of Books
April 15, 2016
“IT TAKES FOUR GENERATIONS for trauma to pass through a family,” writes Judy Batalion in her compelling new memoir White Walls. Batalion is the granddaughter of Jewish Polish immigrants who escaped the Holocaust. But survival came with a high cost; Batalion’s grandparents are haunted by fear and uncertainty.
Read MoreBustle
January 19, 2016
I don’t know about you, but the early days of 2016 have been sloooow going for me. All my resolutions were kind of lame, I haven’t really stuck to them anyway, and a that totally organized, energetic, go-get-‘em lady I planned to be this year still hasn’t shown up yet. But never fear — I’ve found that when I’m in a slump like this, few things motivate me to shake it off and move on more than devouring some totally inspiring memoirs.
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