Mila 18

Leon Uris's 1961 novel about the Warsaw Uprising is a timeless story of the Jewish struggle for survival against overpowering Nazi oppression. "Mila 18" presents a cast of fictional characters who appear in historical places and events of occupied Poland during WWII. Historical figures -- Hitler, Himmler, Eichmann -- are referenced frequently, but provide no dialogue in the novel. The book's title refers to the address of the Jewish resistance headquarters, and the place of much of the action and confrontation in the latter half of the story.Like other Uris novels, "Mila 18" takes some energy to plow through. Given the gravity of the subject, it might be among the most difficult of his books to read. But the effort is well worthwhile. You'll not only be rewarded with powerful storytelling, but you'll also be awakened to one of the great struggles that occurred during the dark years of the 20th century. And Leon Uris will probably be remembered as one of the most important voices of this struggle.

"Engrossing" is the one word I would use to describe Mila 18. Once I was into it, I could barely put it down long enough to tend to other necessary things... like eating and sleeping. I lost weight! I became skittish! And not since reading War and Peace have I felt so riveted to a story. Uris digs down deep into the soul-stretching time of Nazi terror in Eastern Europe, a period of history I am always interested in learning more about. His book is filled with non-stop action, it is tense, it is nerve-wracking. There is a scene where several of the ghetto prisoners are in a desperate scramble along an angled rooftop, and I felt that if one of them had slipped I surely would've fallen off my chair and landed with him amidst the ravenous guards in the courtyard down below. Their reward for NOT falling is to be trapped end-to-end along a single beam in the rafters of that same rooftop for more than a day and a night, unable to make a sound beyond breathing, while rats knaw on them, and the guards furiously stomp about just above their heads, longing to exterminate them as though they were rabid animals. While plumbing these almost unbelievable (but sadly, too true) depths of human cruelty, hatred, and injustice against fellow man, this book also scales the heights of human courage, loyalty, and dignity. And running throughout Mila 18 is the interwoven story of romantic love during perilous times. Because of the peril, some loves are lost and they die; others are found, they are born and they grow. As the resistance forces in the ghetto begin to realize that they cannot stave off the Nazi onslaught indefinitely, the desperation increases... and one man on the other side of the wall (the reporter Christopher de Monti) willingly enters the ghetto. The woman he loves is there. But even beyond this, ever since the Nazi Horst von Epp ridiculed Chris by telling him that he represented "all the moralists in the world who have condoned genocide by the conspiracy of silence" Chris has known that he has a historical role to play inside the walls of the Warsaw Ghetto. He risks his life to become the one who will retrieve and publish the meticulous hidden journals that have been kept up by the chronicler Alexander Brandel. In this he succeeds.It is a remarkable fact of history that while all of Poland fell to the Nazi power in less than a month, this rabble army of Jewish resistance within the ghetto (lacking any decent weapon) held at bay the world's mightiest military power for 42 days and 42 nights! In the end, there are precious few survivors of Mila 18. But this is not a book about death. It is a book about life.

Mila 18 is my other favorite Uris book (besides Trinity). The way he manages to convey the build-up of pre-war tension and then chart the inexorable Nazi regime and their persecution of the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto is incredible. The one warning I would give to anyone reading this book is that you become so caught up in the saga that it is a little difficult to return to "real life". You WILL get depressed - and yet the power and hope Uris embues in you for belief in human nature and man's ability to survive is wonderful. Have lots of Kleenex available.

Leon Uris is the undisputed master of fictional historical novels. Exodus, Mila 18 and Armageddon give us a view of WW-II that no other author has been able to bring to light. His characters are ordinary people set in historical times and situations. He brings you into the ghetos of Warsaw where the Nazi regime was planning the systematic removal of the entire Jewish population. For the first time in history, the Jews of the Warsaw ghetto said no! They fought back with anything and everything they had. The realization that men fought German Panzers with bricks is one of the bravest resistance movements anyone has ever seen. If historical drama, told with a personal touch is your liking, this is truly one of the best works ever. Read it, and your life will change.

Mila 18 was one of the best novels I have ever read. As common as this phrase may sound, this novel is anything but uncommon. Trying to reach an audience that has little, if any, knowledge of the actual non-fiction events that led to the destruction of the Jewery of Warsaw, Poland is a monumental task within itself. As for someone who has read a considerable amount on the actual events that led to the uprising of the Jews of Warsaw, this work of fiction symbolizes the sheer humanity and will to live that every fighter posessed in a wonderful, historical manner. On a recent trip to Poland I found myself searching for the places Uris described so often in his book, only to be confronted with the disdain of many Warsaw Poles who wish to bury the existence of nearly 300,000 Jewish inhabitants (pre-war estimate) and shy away from the memory of the largest European Jewish community's destruction. The strangest thing about Poland is that children, when trying to insult one another, or adults, wishing to claim one soccer team's dominance over another's, use the word "Jew" to signify cowardice. Mila 18 is one work of fiction that should be read by the people of Poland as well as those in the United States in order to see the significance of struggle and to understand who the real cowards are. Finally, as an important side note, once you pick up this novel, the thought of putting it down will not occurr to the reader until the last page is turned. It was; it is an excellent work of historical fiction that is a must read.