Listen free for 30 days
-
The Light of Days
- The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler's Ghettos
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marno
- Length: 14 hrs and 22 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $34.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's Summary
One of the most important stories of World War II, already optioned by Steven Spielberg for a major motion picture: a spectacular, searing history that brings to light the extraordinary accomplishments of brave Jewish women who became resistance fighters - a group of unknown heroes whose exploits have never been chronicled in full, until now.
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.
As propulsive and thrilling as Hidden Figures, In the Garden of Beasts, Band of Brothers, and A Train in Winter, The Light of Days at last tells the true story of these incredible women whose courageous yet little-known feats have been eclipsed by time. 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.
Powerful and inspiring, The Light of Days is an unforgettable true tale of war, the fight for freedom, exceptional bravery, female friendship, and survival in the face of staggering odds.
You may also enjoy...
-
The Boy in the Woods
- A True Story of Survival During the Second World War
- Written by: Maxwell Smart
- Narrated by: Mack Gordon
- Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maxwell Smart was eleven years old when his entire family was killed before his eyes. He might have died along with them, but his mother selflessly ordered him to save himself. Alone in the forest, he dug a hole in the ground for shelter and foraged for food in farmers’ fields. His clothes in rags and close to starvation, he repeatedly escaped death at the hands of Nazis and Ukrainian thugs.
-
-
Important
- By Di on 2023-09-03
Written by: Maxwell Smart
-
The Sisters of Auschwitz
- The True Story of Two Jewish Sisters’ Resistance in the Heart of Nazi Territory
- Written by: Roxane van Iperen
- Narrated by: Susan Hoffman
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The unforgettable story of two unsung heroes of World War II: sisters Janny and Lien Brilleslijper who joined the Dutch Resistance, helped save dozen of lives, were captured by the Nazis, and ultimately survived the Holocaust.
Written by: Roxane van Iperen
-
The Ambassador's Daughter
- Written by: Pam Jenoff
- Narrated by: Joanna Daniel
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brought to the peace conference by her father, a German diplomat, Margot Rosenthal initially resents being trapped in the congested French capital, where she is still looked upon as the enemy. But as she contemplates returning to Berlin and a life with Stefan, the wounded fiancé she hardly knows anymore, she decides that being in Paris is not so bad after all. Bored and torn between duty and the desire to be free, Margot strikes up unlikely alliances: with Krysia, an accomplished musician with radical acquaintances and a secret to protect; and with Georg, the handsome, damaged naval officer who gives Margot a job.
Written by: Pam Jenoff
-
The Cemetery of Untold Stories
- Written by: Julia Alvarez
- Narrated by: Alma Cuervo
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alma Cruz, the celebrated writer at the heart of The Cemetery of Untold Stories, doesn’t want to end up like her friend, a novelist who fought so long and hard to finish a book that it threatened her sanity. So when Alma inherits a small plot of land in the Dominican Republic, her homeland, she has the beautiful idea of turning it into a place to bury her untold stories—literally. She creates a graveyard for the manuscript drafts and revisions, and the characters whose lives she tried and failed to bring to life and who still haunt her.
-
-
Creative and fresh
- By Joan M on 2024-08-16
Written by: Julia Alvarez
-
Lilac Girls
- A Novel
- Written by: Martha Hall Kelly
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Kathleen Gati, Kathrin Kana, and others
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France. An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she is drawn deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspecting neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences.
-
-
Love and Kindness are always relevant
- By TMH on 2018-01-13
Written by: Martha Hall Kelly
-
The Escape Artist
- The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World
- Written by: Jonathan Freedland
- Narrated by: Jonathan Freedland
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In April 1944, Rudolf Vrba became one of the very first Jews to escape from Auschwitz and make his way to freedom—among only a tiny handful who ever pulled off that near-impossible feat. He did it to reveal the truth of the death camp to the world—and to warn the last Jews of Europe what fate awaited them. Against all odds, Vrba and his fellow escapee, Fred Wetzler, climbed mountains, crossed rivers, and narrowly missed German bullets until they had smuggled out the first full account of Auschwitz the world had ever seen.
-
-
Great book
- By Travis on 2023-08-10
Written by: Jonathan Freedland
-
The Boy in the Woods
- A True Story of Survival During the Second World War
- Written by: Maxwell Smart
- Narrated by: Mack Gordon
- Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maxwell Smart was eleven years old when his entire family was killed before his eyes. He might have died along with them, but his mother selflessly ordered him to save himself. Alone in the forest, he dug a hole in the ground for shelter and foraged for food in farmers’ fields. His clothes in rags and close to starvation, he repeatedly escaped death at the hands of Nazis and Ukrainian thugs.
-
-
Important
- By Di on 2023-09-03
Written by: Maxwell Smart
-
The Sisters of Auschwitz
- The True Story of Two Jewish Sisters’ Resistance in the Heart of Nazi Territory
- Written by: Roxane van Iperen
- Narrated by: Susan Hoffman
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The unforgettable story of two unsung heroes of World War II: sisters Janny and Lien Brilleslijper who joined the Dutch Resistance, helped save dozen of lives, were captured by the Nazis, and ultimately survived the Holocaust.
Written by: Roxane van Iperen
-
The Ambassador's Daughter
- Written by: Pam Jenoff
- Narrated by: Joanna Daniel
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brought to the peace conference by her father, a German diplomat, Margot Rosenthal initially resents being trapped in the congested French capital, where she is still looked upon as the enemy. But as she contemplates returning to Berlin and a life with Stefan, the wounded fiancé she hardly knows anymore, she decides that being in Paris is not so bad after all. Bored and torn between duty and the desire to be free, Margot strikes up unlikely alliances: with Krysia, an accomplished musician with radical acquaintances and a secret to protect; and with Georg, the handsome, damaged naval officer who gives Margot a job.
Written by: Pam Jenoff
-
The Cemetery of Untold Stories
- Written by: Julia Alvarez
- Narrated by: Alma Cuervo
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alma Cruz, the celebrated writer at the heart of The Cemetery of Untold Stories, doesn’t want to end up like her friend, a novelist who fought so long and hard to finish a book that it threatened her sanity. So when Alma inherits a small plot of land in the Dominican Republic, her homeland, she has the beautiful idea of turning it into a place to bury her untold stories—literally. She creates a graveyard for the manuscript drafts and revisions, and the characters whose lives she tried and failed to bring to life and who still haunt her.
-
-
Creative and fresh
- By Joan M on 2024-08-16
Written by: Julia Alvarez
-
Lilac Girls
- A Novel
- Written by: Martha Hall Kelly
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Kathleen Gati, Kathrin Kana, and others
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France. An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she is drawn deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspecting neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences.
-
-
Love and Kindness are always relevant
- By TMH on 2018-01-13
Written by: Martha Hall Kelly
-
The Escape Artist
- The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World
- Written by: Jonathan Freedland
- Narrated by: Jonathan Freedland
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In April 1944, Rudolf Vrba became one of the very first Jews to escape from Auschwitz and make his way to freedom—among only a tiny handful who ever pulled off that near-impossible feat. He did it to reveal the truth of the death camp to the world—and to warn the last Jews of Europe what fate awaited them. Against all odds, Vrba and his fellow escapee, Fred Wetzler, climbed mountains, crossed rivers, and narrowly missed German bullets until they had smuggled out the first full account of Auschwitz the world had ever seen.
-
-
Great book
- By Travis on 2023-08-10
Written by: Jonathan Freedland
-
The School for German Brides
- A Novel of World War II
- Written by: Aimie K. Runyan
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Kathleen Gati
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the war begins, Hanna Rombauer, a young German woman, is sent to live with her aunt and uncle after her mother’s death. Thrown into a life of luxury she never expected, Hanna soon finds herself unwillingly matched with an SS officer twenty years her senior. The independence that her mother lovingly fostered in her is considered highly inappropriate as the future wife of an up-and-coming officer and she is sent to a “bride school.” There, in a posh villa on the outskirts of town, Hanna is taught how to be a “proper” German wife.
-
-
interesting book
- By Jessica on 2024-09-28
Written by: Aimie K. Runyan
-
The Girls with No Names
- Written by: Serena Burdick
- Narrated by: Emily Lawrence, Nancy Peterson, Amy McFadden
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Growing up in New York City in the 1910s, Luella and Effie Tildon realize that even as wealthy young women, their freedoms come with limits. But when the sisters discover a shocking secret about their father, Luella, the brazen elder sister, becomes emboldened to do as she pleases. Her rebellion comes with consequences, and one morning Luella is mysteriously gone.
-
-
Couldn’t finish it
- By Nicol Tuck on 2021-01-08
Written by: Serena Burdick
-
Fuzz
- When Nature Breaks the Law
- Written by: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Mary Roach
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What’s to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. These days, as New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach discovers, the answers are best found not in jurisprudence but in science: the curious science of human-wildlife conflict, a discipline at the crossroads of human behavior and wildlife biology.
-
-
An amazing book !
- By Amazon Customer on 2023-06-18
Written by: Mary Roach
-
The Flight Girls
- Written by: Noelle Salazar
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1941. Audrey Coltrane has always wanted to fly. It's why she implored her father to teach her at the little airfield back home in Texas. It’s why she signed up to train military pilots in Hawaii when the war in Europe began. And it’s why she insists she is not interested in any dream-derailing romantic involvements, even with the disarming Lieutenant James Hart, who fast becomes a friend as treasured as the women with whom she flies. Then one fateful day, she gets caught in the air over Pearl Harbor just as the bombs begin to fall, and suddenly, nowhere feels safe.
-
-
Narrator Sounds Like a Sheep
- By Kelsey on 2020-09-09
Written by: Noelle Salazar
-
In Search of a Kingdom
- Francis Drake, Elizabeth I, and the Perilous Birth of the British Empire
- Written by: Laurence Bergreen
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this grand and thrilling narrative, the acclaimed biographer of Magellan, Columbus, and Marco Polo brings alive the singular life and adventures of Sir Francis Drake, the pirate/explorer/admiral whose mastery of the seas during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I changed the course of history.
-
-
High adventure, war and the birth of England.
- By Jesse Bongfeldt on 2023-05-31
Written by: Laurence Bergreen
-
The Book of Lost Friends
- A Novel
- Written by: Lisa Wingate
- Narrated by: Sophie Amoss, Sullivan Jones, Robin Miles, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the best-selling author of Before We Were Yours comes a dramatic historical novel of three young women searching for family amid the destruction of the post-Civil War South, and of a modern-day teacher who learns of their story and its vital connection to her students’ lives.
-
-
a satisfying and aurhentic read
- By Sandra on 2020-07-09
Written by: Lisa Wingate
-
A Single Thread
- A Novel
- Written by: Tracy Chevalier
- Narrated by: Fenella Woolgar
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1932. After the Great War took both her beloved brother and her fiancé, Violet Speedwell has become a "surplus woman," one of a generation doomed to a life of spinsterhood after the war killed so many young men. Yet Violet cannot reconcile herself to a life spent caring for her grieving, embittered mother. After countless meals of boiled eggs and dry toast, she saves enough to move out of her mother's place and into the town of Winchester, home to one of England's grandest cathedrals.
-
-
Lovely story of becoming independent.
- By Susan watts on 2023-12-23
Written by: Tracy Chevalier
-
"Don't You Know Who I Am?": How to Stay Sane in an Era of Narcissism, Entitlement, and Incivility
- Written by: Ramani S. Durvasula PhD
- Narrated by: Ramani S. Durvasula PhD
- Length: 19 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Health and wellness campaigns preach avoidance of unhealthy foods, sedentary lifestyles, tobacco, drugs, and alcohol, but rarely preach avoidance of unhealthy, difficult, or toxic people. Yet the health benefits of removing toxic people from your life may have far greater benefits to both physical and psychological health. We need to learn to be better gatekeepers for our minds, bodies, and souls. Narcissism, entitlement, and incivility have become the new world order, and we are all in trouble. They are not only normalized but also increasingly incentivized.
-
-
BRILLIANT!!! RECOMMENDED FOR ALIENATED PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS TOO!!!
- By Nano on 2021-06-18
Written by: Ramani S. Durvasula PhD
-
The Other Side of the Coin
- The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe
- Written by: Angela Kelly
- Narrated by: Angela Kelly
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Angela Kelly and The Queen are together, laughter echoes through the corridors of Buckingham Palace. Angela has worked with The Queen and walked the corridors of the Royal Household for 25 years, initially as Her Majesty’s Senior Dresser and then latterly as Her Majesty’s Personal Advisor, Curator, Wardrobe, and In-house Designer. As the first person in history to hold this title, she shares a uniquely close working relationship with The Queen.
-
-
Enjoyable
- By Roberta W on 2024-10-04
Written by: Angela Kelly
-
The Girl Who Escaped From Auschwitz:
- A totally gripping and absolutely heartbreaking World War 2 novel
- Written by: Ellie Midwood
- Narrated by: Alison Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nobody leaves Auschwitz alive. Mala, inmate 19880, understood that the moment she stepped off the cattle train into the depths of hell. Edward, inmate 531, is a camp veteran and a political prisoner. They are locked up for no other sin than simply existing. But when they meet, the dark shadow of Auschwitz is lit by a glimmer of hope. Edward makes Mala believe in the impossible. That despite being surrounded by electric wire, machine guns topping endless watchtowers and searchlights roaming the ground, they will leave this death camp.
-
-
Rewriting History
- By Judy Lyoness on 2022-07-28
Written by: Ellie Midwood
-
Resistance Women
- A Novel
- Written by: Jennifer Chiaverini
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 20 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the New York Times best-selling author of Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker, an enthralling historical saga that recreates the danger, romance, and sacrifice of an era and brings to life one courageous, passionate American - Mildred Fish Harnack - and her circle of women friends who waged a clandestine battle against Hitler in Nazi Berlin.
-
-
Valuable historical fiction…
- By Carolyn Ledwell on 2022-08-25
Written by: Jennifer Chiaverini
-
The Paris Deception
- Written by: Bryn Turnbull
- Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sophie Dix fled Stuttgart with her brother as the Nazi regime gained power in Germany. Now, with her brother gone and her adopted home city of Paris conquered by the Reich, Sophie reluctantly accepts a position restoring damaged art at the Jeu de Paume museum under the supervision of the ERR—a German art commission using the museum as a repository for art they’ve looted from Jewish families.
-
-
I made it through!
- By Miss Kelly Smith on 2024-10-10
Written by: Bryn Turnbull
What listeners say about The Light of Days
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- LNM
- 2021-06-10
insightful story of resilience and resistance
enjoyed the book and recommend listening
excellent narration
every grade 10 student should read this book to understand a history of genocide, background of development of hatred in a society, the importance of a Jewish state in the post modern era.
Would have preferred one chapter per character rather than mixing up personas in each chapter. it was hard to keep everyone's personal story straight. overall excellent.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Theresa
- 2021-05-21
riveting0
the author has written a captivating true story of heroic Jewish woman during WWIi. I have read many memoirs , and scholarly books on this subject. This book ranks in the top 5%. She has humanized each woman and described the terror, and depravity inflicted on the them by the Nazis, inside and outside of the ghettos. the story reads even more captivating than a novel because the characters are real people.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful