Join Judy Batalion for a Virtual Jewish Book Council Author Talk about Her New Novel The Light of Days

Thursday, April 15 at 7pm

Hosted jointly by Falmouth Jewish Congregation, the Vilna Shul and the Worcester JCC

Register for this Zoom webinar at: https://www.vilnashul.org/events

Copies of The Light of Days are available from our partner, independent bookstore Eight Cousins (signed bookplates are available): https://www.eightcousins.com/Judy Batalion, A First Class Disrupter

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. - Lilith (March 22, 2021)

Author Judy Batalion joins us to talk about her just-published new work, The Light of Days, an unforgettable true tale of war, the fight for freedom, exceptional bravery, female friendship, and survival in the face of staggering odds. The novel focuses on a cadre of Jewish women in Poland, some still in their teens, that witnessed the brutal murder of their families and neighbors, and the violent destruction of their communities. As a result of their trauma, they 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.

This event is scheduled just a week after Yom HaShoah -- Holocaust Remembrance Day, which falls on the evening of Wednesday, April 7 - Thursday, April 8. We invite you to continue your heightened awareness of the Shoah by attending this talk.

Judy Batalion is the author of White Walls:  A Memoir About Motherhood, Daughterhood, and the Mess in Between.  She has written for The New York Times, Vogue, The Washington Post, and many other publications. Prior to her writing career, she was an academic, and is fluent in both Yiddish and Hebrew.  Born and raised in Montreal, she now lives in New York with her husband and children.