We invite you to a webinar with Judy Batalion, author of the bestseller The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler's Ghettos , which will take place on Wednesday, January 18th at 18:00 PM on the ZOOM platform at the link: https://zoom.us/j/96998314363
The author will explore the fascinating yet forgotten heroines of the Jewish resistance movement during World War II. Her bestselling book, "The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler's Ghettos," will be published in 2021.
"The Light of Days" —a story about war, the fight for freedom, exceptional courage, female friendship, and the power of survival in the face of enormous adversity—became a New York Times bestseller and won the National Jewish Book Award and the Canadian Jewish Literary Award. It has been translated into 22 languages. It has also been adapted for young readers. Steven Spielberg , for whom Judy Batalion is co-writing the screenplay, is planning a film adaptation.
Judy Batalion was born in Montreal. She is the granddaughter of Polish Holocaust survivors. She holds a degree in the history of science from Harvard and a doctorate in art history from the University of London. She has worked as a curator, academic, and editor, and has written essays published in the New York Times , Washington Post , Jerusalem Post , Forward , and Vogue . She also has stage experience as a playwright and actress. She currently lives in New York City with her husband and three children.
She made her debut as a writer in 2016. Her stories about difficult family relationships and the generational transmission of trauma were collected in the book "White Walls: A Memoir About Motherhood, Daughterhood, and the Mess in Between . "
Her second book, "The Light of Days ," is the result of her research at the British Library on Jewish female fighters. During this research, Judy accidentally stumbled upon a dusty, old Yiddish book, Freuen in di Ghettos ("Women in the Ghettos"). This thriller about "ghetto girls" became the direct inspiration for "The Light of Days."
This nonfiction book explores the achievements of Jewish women who became resistance fighters in Poland during World War II. They witnessed the brutal murders of their families, neighbors, and entire communities. Influenced by these traumatic events, they joined the fight against their Nazi oppressors. With their courage, cunning, and nerves of steel, the "ghetto girls" corrupted Gestapo guards, smuggled weapons in loaves of bread and jars of jam, helped build underground bunker systems, obtained secret information as intelligence agents, and committed numerous acts of sabotage. Many of them ended up in Gestapo torture chambers and concentration camps. Only a few survived the hell of World War II.
The webinar will be moderated by Masza Makarova from the Education Department of the Warsaw Ghetto Museum. Translation from English to Polish will be provided. Participation is free.
The meeting with Judy Batalion opens a series of webinars related to the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising organized by the Warsaw Ghetto Museum.
