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“A remarkable portrait of young Jewish women who fought in the Polish resistance during WWII. . . pays vivid tribute to ‘the breadth and scope of female courage.’ ” —Publishers Weekly

Join us for this online conversation with author Judy Batalion to discuss her newest book The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler’s Ghettos, already optioned by Steven Spielberg for a major motion picture. It is 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.

Check out Batalion’s recently published editorial in the New York Times for a deeper look into the book (which will be released on April 6, 2021) and what inspired her to write it.

She previously performed at the Museum in 2019 as part of a storytelling program called “My Mother’s Closet” with Maira Kalman and others.

About the author:

Judy was born and raised in Montreal, where she grew up speaking English, French, Yiddish and Hebrew, and trying to stay warm. She studied the history of science at Harvard then moved to London to pursue a PhD in art history. All the while, she worked as a curator, researcher, editor, lecturer, comic, MC, script-reader, dramaturge, performer, actor, producer, translator, mmmuffins server, and a temp – at a temp agency. Eventually, Judy transformed these experiences into material, and wrote essays and articles for the New York Times, the Washington Post, Vogue, the Forward, Salon, the Jerusalem Post and many other publications. Her stories about family relationships, the generational transmission of trauma, pathological hoarding and militant minimalism came together in her book White Walls: A Memoir About Motherhood, Daughterhood, and the Mess in Between (NAL/Penguin, 2016). White Walls was optioned by Warner Brothers for whom Judy is currently developing the TV series “Cluttered.”