The Light of Days Young Readers' Edition Educator Guide

The Light of Days Young Readers' Edition by Judy Batalion (HarperCollins 2021) brings to life the incredible efforts of Jewish girls and young women who formed a resistance front in Poland against the Nazi regime during World War II. This documentary account is organized into four major parts with introductory material and concluding remarks, an eight-page insert of black-and-white photographs, and a helpful "Who's Who" of the many women whose stories are included in the book, which will serve as a reference to young readers.

To help you make the most of this title in the library and classroom, we're sharing these resources:

— Curriculum ideas and recommended book pairings below

— Author Q&A with Judy Batalion

— "Jewish Resistance," a student activity from ABC-CLIO's Modern Genocide database that supports students in learning about Jewish resistance during the Holocaust.

Curriculum Ideas & Book Pairings by High School Librarian Elizabeth Andersen

During Women's History Month, I read the headline "Read About Women Who Risked Their Lives to Help During War." This statement is misleading. Educators are looking to create curriculum that is inclusive of all stories, reflecting that no group's story should be considered less important. The idea that women risked their lives to "help" rather than seeing them as equal participants during wartime is outdated and needs rethinking—and it is books like Judy Batalion's The Light of Days Young Readers' Edition that will help do just that. In this book, Batalion makes visible the young women of the Polish Jewish Resistance by depicting their harrowing journeys of smuggling forged documents across borders that saved many Polish Jews from being sent to the camps, smuggling grenades in underwear, and in some cases, enduring imprisonment and torture.

Curriculum Connections

In the Introduction, Batalion explains that her research brought her to "a different version of the women-in-war story...they were fierce and fearsome, brave and brazen" (xvii). Indeed, this book provides the perfect opportunity for social studies teachers to include more historical stories about women as equal participants during wartime into their curriculum. It could fit into a middle school humanities curriculum or could be a work of collaboration between the social studies and English departments; and although it could fit into a Holocaust unit, there are other possibilities as well.

Here are a few activity suggestions:

After reading the introduction, break students into small groups and ask them to list all the women they have studied in history class (if later in the year, encourage students to review their class notes for examples) or ask students to list all the female historical figures they can think of and describe what role they played. This could be limited to a time period or could encompass all of history; this could even be an activity done in each subject area for a cross-curricular connection. Then have the students separate women into categories (politicians, authors, scientists, activists, etc.) on the walls around the room. Have students critically examine their work: What roles are missing? Are there any soldiers or scientists? Are there new categories that need to be created for the roles that women have played throughout history? As they read The Light of Days, have the students place Renia and Ziva and the other women from the book on the wall. In which category do they fit? This activity could grow to incorporate other marginalized groups as well.

This book could also be used to examine the complexity of war. In the Epilogue, the author writes of the 2018 Polish law that criminalizes any reference to Polish responsibility for the Holocaust. However, readers learn in Chapter 1 that Jewish history in Poland had always been complicated and as they continue, students will read the stories of some of the three million Polish Jews who died during the Holocaust in Polish Concentration Camps. This is a stark example of how blurry the lines of war are. Encourage students to take notes while reading. Were there Poles who helped the Jews? Were there Poles who sided with the Nazis? These notes could be the base for a class discussion about how one country can embody two extremes (which, of course, could connect to current events in our country).

Book Pairings

There are many books about women who have been essential parts of history. Share books about other stories of resistance during WWII, the Holocaust, or of women that made history as a way to extend learning. Here are some books to consider displaying or sharing with students: