-

iv) Leon Uris' New ►, Novel, 'Mika 18: Reveals
heroism• of Fighters in 'Warsaw's Ghetto

In more than one s ens e,
visionists to leave the ghetto
"Mila 18" is the counterpart of
through the sewers, where they
perished — proving the unwis-
4.) "Exodus." Leon Uris, in this
powerful novel about the War-
dom of their act—are part of
14 saw Ghetto Uprising, blends the
this moving story.
descriptions of the heroic battle
Its effectiveness is especially
by a handful of people against
evidenced in the emphasis on
the Nazi sadists with love
the need for facts,. on the value
stories.
of data in exposing 'crimes—on
The love affairs in "Mila 18"
the diaries of Alexander Bran-
would in therriselves make an
del which were to serve as the
excellent movie, and combine
accusing documentations against
P-4 to make interesting reading chat
the Nazi beasts.
holds the reader's attention.
Brandel was the pacifist who
Linked, however, with the his-
finally realized that Andrei was
toric events of the Passover of
right in his insistence upon
1943, this narrative assumes
military action and physical re-
vaster significance.
sistance, and he was given the
Like .its predecessor, Uris'
honor of hurling the first
E.0
5 "Exodus," this novel is corn-
"cocktail" bomb against the SS
tg posed of many snatches of his-
group that invaded the ghetto.
E.4
While there were Christians
fr4 torical events and of Jewish
traditions. It is evident that
who failed to come to the aid
A
"Mila 18," which was published
of Jews, there was a handful
LEON URIS
by Doubleday, is based on a
that stood for justice.
* *
E.4 lot of study of the details of of some Christians to plunder
the Warsaw battle, of the think- and betray their Jewish neigh-
Leon Uris drew upon an an-
cient group in naming the Zion-
ing of the Jews in Warsaw, the bors.
*- * *
many elements that made up
ist element with which. Andrei
the community.
As a sociological study, "Mila Androfski • was associated. He
In its historical sense, it is 18" has additional merit. It called them the Bathyrans. The
not a profound work. At times, contains accounts of deviations name stems from the time of
during the early portions of the from the Jewish community by Herod and is ascribed to a group
book, the informed reader will Jews who hoped to integrate that was active in libertarian
feel saddened by the evident into Polish society, who had efforts in Herod's time.
fact that Uris had to grope in risen to professorships and who
,"1VIila 18" tells about the Bar
the dark for some of the de- later were disillusioned when Mitzvah of Paul's son. That in
tails he gathered for his book. they were r o b b e d of their itself was a complete repudia-
There could have been a better rights and posts, who were dis, tion of the assimilated profes-
understanding of Polish Jewry, placed by their former friends sor's views. It was an indict-
which had produced many great who now turned their tormen- ment of those who sought to
scholars. There could have been tors. Paul Bronski was one of leave the Jewish fold.
a far more knowledgeable ap- them. He had shut Jewish prac-
Then there is the reference
proach to some of the events tices from his home and ridi- to the Eassover observance by
enumerated in the story.
culed his brother-in-law, Andrei the underground fighters in
In fact, at some points, it Androfski, who - became a April of 1943. Far better ac-
counts of that .celebration . have
'seems as if "Mila 18"—the Zionist.
title refers to the last address
-'ocaust, and appeared in earlier works, eat
Came the Na7
of the ghetto fighters in War- Paul's children .me leaders its inclusion in "Mila 18" is
saw—is somewhat sacreligious. in the underground at the time valuable.
In his expose of the cruelties
But the story gathers momen- that Paul accepted the chair-
tum, and the detained ac- manship of the Nazi-formed of the Nazi collaborators, Uris'
count of the resistance, the Jewish Civil Authority It .be- story indicts Ukrainians, Lat-
description of collective and came inevitably a colloborating vians and Lithuanians. At one
individual heroism, the ex- agency, Paul committed suicide point in the story he relates the
pose of the Nazi criminals, by taking an overdose of sleep- following about the attacks on
more than atone for all other ing pills when his wife and Jews in the ghetto:
"A second- set of guards ar-
shortcomings. children defied him and worked
"Mile. 18" thus is the story ! with the underground anti Nazi rived. Latvians and Lithuan-
of a battle for human dignity. forces, and the revolt rolled ians 'wearing uniforms of Nazi
Auxiliaries with insignias of
But it is also an interesting with full force.
The manner in which the skulls and crossbones on their
evaluation of internal Jewish
epaulets. These peasants from
struggles — of assimilationism heroic ghetto .fighters. held off
the Baltics had carried out
that had failed, of divisiveness the SS troops for 46 days and
that is unwise in time of crisis, nights. the heroism of the chil- their share of the eastern
of ideological differences that , dren, the sacrifices made by massacres with relish."
There is also the account of a
1 their elders, combine to make
so often plague Jewry.
It could safely be called a lUris' book' one of the most dra- visit by Andrei to Grabski,
whom they tried to bribe into
Zionist novel. Were it not for matic stories he has written.
It is not a great literary docu- some help for the trapped Jews,
the Zionist ideal that inspired
the heroes and served as the ' ment. Nothing could possibly and Grabski told them: "Only
unifying force in opposing the compare with Hersey's "The way the Jews leave that camp
Nazi brutalities, the remaining Wall" as a description of the is through the chimney." Then,
would have been exterminated Warsaw ghetto fight. But Uris' -amused at discovering himself
like rats. The Warsaw Ghetto story is in - novel form, and a humorist, Grabski broke into
resistance, while it did not save I therefore is m or e certain to a fit of laughter."
The plot, the characters, the
the Jews, at least gave them a draw public attention and to
sense of honor and self-respect. arouse concern over what had story of the resistance, the
* * *
happened during the Hitler era. Brandel diary insertions, the
That is what had made heroism against cruelty, com-
The central theme of "Mila
18" is that ' it is vitally neces- "Exodus" so vital; this is what bine to make Uris' - "Mila 18"
sary for a people to preserve will make "Mila 18" significant. one of the most powerful stories
about the holocaust.
* * *
its records, and in time of crisis
--P. S.
to have the evidence that is so
The reader may question how
necessary- to expose the crim- a Jew—in the instance of the
inals.
new Uris novel he is Andrei
Joseph Trumpeldor
In the new Uris novel, Alex- Androfski—cotild have become
On 12th Adar 1920 Joseph Trumpel-
ander Br a n d e 1, the pacifist, an officer in the Polish Ulan dor and many of his colleagues were
in Tel Hai in the Galilee. Many
makes a record of events in his forces. Andrei's role serves an killed
of the men of Tel Hai were
diary. It is in order to preserve important purpose. He was a wounded, among them Trumpeldor
was wounded in the stomach.
this diary that a great effort patriot. He fought
ught for Poland,
There were 34 fighters in all the
is made towards the end to get -but it did not help. The Poles settlement in the Galilee headed by
seph Trumpe l dor.
the Italian journalist, Chris- themselves did not realize what Jo Trumpeldor
was born in 1880 in the -
topher de Monti, safely out of was happening to them. Now Caucasus in Russia. In his childhood
was remote from Jewish life and
the ghetto, because he alone they know, and "Mila 18" helps he
only at the age of 20 did he
knew the location of all the to emphasize the truth.
hear of the Zionist movement. When
he
23 he joined the Russian army
milk cans in which the records
Zionism was the great in- and was
took part in the Russo-Japanese
of the Nazi crimes, and Alexan- spiring force that brought the war and was severely wounded—he
lost his left hand. Trumpeldor was
der's diary, were kept.
handful of Jew's to a state of the
first Jewish officer in the Russian
This, like many other de- great dignity. Uris makes an army. In 1912 Trumpeldor went to
tails in "Mila 18," corresponds excellent case for Zionism—in Bretz Israel.
When they decided to move the
to facts, because it was the his presentation of the aims of wounded Trumpeldor to Kfar Giladi
he
said to his colleagues: "These
record of the Nazi brutalities, the Zionists, their aspirations,
are my last moments. Tell the others
kept in an ash can and found their desire for a new and to guard well every Jewish point.
They have to defend the honor of
after the war, that revealed wholesome life. The repudiation the
- Jewish people till the last
details about the Warsaw of Paul Bronski's assimilation- moment."
When the doctor asked him how
ist views by his wife and chit-
ghetto resistance and the
felt he answered: "It doesn't
Nazi bestialities.
dren is part of the evidence. • he
matter. It is good to die for our
"Mira • 18" also shows how country." A few minutes later he
Uris' story does not spare
died.
anyone. It reveals the cruelties Jews even in times of crisis
on the grave of Joseph Trumpeldor
of the Poles, refusal of the can be divided. The differences which is situated between Kfar
Giladi and Tel Hai there stands a
leader of the Polish under- that existed between the Re- large monument—the figure of a
ground, who directed troops visionists and the other Zionist. lion—a symbol of his heroism and
outside the ghetto, to assist the groups during the ghetto bat- courage.
Translation of Hebrew column.
Jewish fighters, the readiness ties, the decision of the Re-
Edited by Brit Ivrit Olamit,

Mg-

Around the W orld •

A Digest of World Jewish Happenings
from Dispatches of the Jewish Telegraphic
Agency and Other News-Gathering Media,

Africa

CASABLANCA—King Hassan II, for the second time since
taking over his late father's throne this year, this week received
a Jewish delegation headed by Grand Rabbi Saul Danan, presi-
dent of the Supreme Rabbinical Tribunal in Morocco, to present
greetings on the occasion of an Islamic religious feast . . .
Meyer Toledano, a Moroccan Jew who is assistant to the
director_ of the Moroccan Ministry of Commerce and Industry,
was commissioned by the government to study economic
development methods in the United States . . . A special
meeting was held by the Council of Moroccan Jewish Com-
munities to discuss a number of problems to be presented to
King Hassan by a Jewish delegation, the main one to be the
question of the issuance of passports and freedom of movement
for Moroccan Jews.

Israel

. JERUSALEM—The Bank of Israel issued a report this week
stating that 1960 was a period of standstill in Israel's economic
growth in contrast to the 1959 year due to. a drop in output and
an increase in imports, enlarging the country's trade imbalance.
TEL AVIV—Israel is a natural bridge between continents
and therefore a natural site for conventions of eastern and
western cultures, President Ben-Zvi declared this week at the
10th Annual International Press Institute here . . . . Brigadier
Chaim Herzog, former Israeli military attache in the United
States and now head of Israel's Intelligence Department, told
the 170 editors from 30 countries at the 10th Annual Inter-
national Press Institute that as long as Israel is situated among
hostile neighbors and leaders of those neighbOrs reiterate
threats against Israel and maintain huge military forces, Israel
must maintain security censorship.

Europe

LONDON—A five-nation committee of the Arab League has
forwarded to the various Arab heads of state recommendations
for a reply to a message sent . by United States President John
F. Kennedy to the King of Saudi Arabia concerning the "Pales-
tine question."
. PARIS—"Continent," a widely read magazine published
here, reported this week that an anti-Zionist book—by Moscow
writers Konstantin Ivanov and Z. Scheinis—was withdrawn from
sale in Poland after strong local opposition to it developed.
FRANKFURT—Jakob Scheck, the former Nazi mayor of the
Bavarian health resort Garmisch Partenkirchen and a holder of.
the "golden badge" of the National Socialist Party, will receive
a monthly pension, it was ruled by the German Federal Admin-
istrative Court, the final authority to decide on controversial
pension claims of public servants employed during the Nazi era.
ROME—Dr. 1VIelvin M. Tumin, associate professor of soci-
ology and anthropology at Princeton University; is in Rome to
interest Italian leaders in backing a special survey, to be con-
ducted in various European countries, on youth's attitude to
racist prejudices.
GENEVA—Sixteen young men from the Congo arrived here
to begin training at the ORT Teachers Training Institute at
Aniers; near here, under the Swiss Government technical assist-
ance program.

Latin America

LIMA, Peru—A program of technical aid and cultural inter-
change between Bolivia and Israel is provided in agreements
signed by Dr. Michael Simon, Israel's ambassador to Peru and
minister to Bolivia, on a visit to Bolivia.

Xr. 1912

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