Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'
The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler's Ghettos by Judy Batalion
1 review
mezzano's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.0
At times, The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler's Ghettos reads more like a fiction story than a historical text. Judy Batalion, partly motivated by her own motivation to uncover her cultural history, uses testimony and historical documents to bring new life into otherwise unknown but important figures in the Holocaust: young Jewish women who fought against an oppressive regime.
As an American reader, the Holocaust and Allied involvement has long been hammered into the public educational system. In many ways, Americans first exposure to the Holocaust and Nazi Germany paint the Jewish people as helpless. Anne Frank is seen as a forever innocent and hopeful child who sees the good in man. Ellie Wiesel shows students that when people are placed in horrific circumstances, every man fights for himself. Batalion shows us a new and true perspective from the era. The Women Resistance Fighters were intense, loyal, and brave. Through unbelievable perseverance and determination, the Women Resistance Fighters were able to fight against the Nazi Regime. I found a great appreciation for this history book's focus on a group that has gone far too long without recognition, especially as it was written by someone of Jewish heritage. In a way, it felt as though the "helpless Jewish" narrative was finally challenged, and the strength that people had to have to endure Hitler's rule was highlighted instead.
Batalion writes that she tried to maintain a true representation of the facts and details throughout this book, but creative liberties are taken. Dialogue is made more lively for the sake of making the book read more like a narrative, and imagery is also added for the same reason. In many places, it would be easy to confuse this with a fictional story with a large cast of characters, rather than a true story of real Jewish women. This does not necessarily come as a detriment to the story. Many readers will love the creative nonfiction approach to this history book, but I found myself liking the spots which were entirely focused on the history rather than dialogue or relationships.
As this is a story about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust's atrocities, please be aware that there are some major content warnings. Not only for the obvious police brutality, genocide, and violence, but for beastilality, rape, and disturbing body images.
As an American reader, the Holocaust and Allied involvement has long been hammered into the public educational system. In many ways, Americans first exposure to the Holocaust and Nazi Germany paint the Jewish people as helpless. Anne Frank is seen as a forever innocent and hopeful child who sees the good in man. Ellie Wiesel shows students that when people are placed in horrific circumstances, every man fights for himself. Batalion shows us a new and true perspective from the era. The Women Resistance Fighters were intense, loyal, and brave. Through unbelievable perseverance and determination, the Women Resistance Fighters were able to fight against the Nazi Regime. I found a great appreciation for this history book's focus on a group that has gone far too long without recognition, especially as it was written by someone of Jewish heritage. In a way, it felt as though the "helpless Jewish" narrative was finally challenged, and the strength that people had to have to endure Hitler's rule was highlighted instead.
Batalion writes that she tried to maintain a true representation of the facts and details throughout this book, but creative liberties are taken. Dialogue is made more lively for the sake of making the book read more like a narrative, and imagery is also added for the same reason. In many places, it would be easy to confuse this with a fictional story with a large cast of characters, rather than a true story of real Jewish women. This does not necessarily come as a detriment to the story. Many readers will love the creative nonfiction approach to this history book, but I found myself liking the spots which were entirely focused on the history rather than dialogue or relationships.
As this is a story about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust's atrocities, please be aware that there are some major content warnings. Not only for the obvious police brutality, genocide, and violence, but for beastilality, rape, and disturbing body images.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Genocide, Police brutality, Violence, Gun violence, Gore, Death, Child death, Torture, Terminal illness, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Rape, Slavery, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Confinement, Body shaming, Body horror, Blood, and Antisemitism
Minor: Abortion, Alcoholism, and Animal cruelty
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