Daniel's Story

Rosa is Daniel’s romantic interest. When he meets her, it’s something like love at first sight. Daniel says, “I certainly was love-struck. One look and I became moon-eyed” (54). Rosa isn’t conventionally attractive. Daniel calls her “a little funny looking” (52-53) and notes her “bright red hair” (53), linking her name—Rosa or Rose—to her hair color. A rose is also a flower that often symbolizes romance, so Matas reinforces the romantic nature of Rosa’s character in multiple ways.

Rosa is a dynamic character—she’s not only a romantic interest but also Daniel’s partner and equal. At the Lodz youth group, they discuss their situation, and Rosa supports his views on extinguishing the human race. She asks Erika, “How can you look around you, see most of the people you loved murdered and tortured, and think anything else?” (69). Yet Rosa doesn’t surrender to her gloomy thoughts. Like Daniel, she’s resilient and brave. She organizes a protest against the sewing factory and its meager soup rations, and she stands up to the “dreadful people” (127) that take over Daniel’s apartment by returning every day with a chair and a book to wait for Daniel.

As with Daniel, Rosa comes from an affluent family. Daniel’s dad owned a hardware store, and Rosa’s dad owned three fur shops and served on the Jewish Council. Rosa and Daniel each have family members who died and survived the Holocaust. Rosa demonstrates her close connection to Daniel’s family by staying with Erika at the hospital until she passes. Rosa also has a sense of humor. She demonstrates it when they first meet with the monkey joke, and she displays it when they reunite, calling Daniel “my white knight” (128). Matas makes it seem like Rosa and Daniel’s destiny to be together, and both characters are grateful for each other and their lives.

Erika is Daniel’s younger sister. The age difference is only two years, but Erika frequently comes across as less resilient than her older brother. Daniel describes Erika as “a little mouse” who’s calm, quiet, and “terribly shy” (16). Daniel says Erika is like their mom, Ruth, and Erika and Ruth share similar destinies. Both characters get sick in Lodz, Ruth presumably dies in a gas chamber, and Erika dies shortly after liberation. In Auschwitz, Erika becomes a “muselmann”—a member of the camp’s living dead. Daniel says, “[S]he’d given up. Her eyes were hollow, empty” (84). Yet realizing her dad and big brother are alive brings her back to life.

Erika can resist and stick up for herself and others. She organizes a hunger strike at the factory to get Rosa and the other leaders rehired. She also reprimands Rosa and Daniel for wanting to exterminate the human race. Here, she becomes a voice of reason, telling them, “We are human, with good and bad in us. [...] We can choose evil like our enemies have done and create a world based on hate. Or we can try to make things better” (70). Despite her meek characterization, Erika can assert herself—she has agency.

As with her big brother, Erika has a skill that defines her and her story. With Daniel, it’s photography. With Erika, it’s the violin. Playing music gives Erika hope, and she refuses to create gloomy melodies. She asks, “Why should I write sad pieces? We’re sad enough already” (63). Through Erika, Daniel meets Rosa. Rosa is Erika’s friend first, and she brings Rosa to the apartment when they’re delousing. Without his little sister, Daniel might not find his true love.

Joseph is Daniel and Erika’s dad and Ruth’s husband, and he’s a reliable, resourceful man. Joseph owns a hardware store, and people come from far away not just to buy things but also to get sound advice. Daniel says, “He knew how to fix anything and always showed the people who came in what the best tools would be for a specific job” (7). Joseph’s talent for tools and crafts helps him get jobs and keeps him and Daniel alive. In Lodz, Joseph works at a carpentry shop. In Auschwitz, he secretly makes spoons and knives and trades them for two bowls, a cloth case for Daniel’s camera, and a new uniform to make it look like he works in Canada. Joseph’s ability to navigate the deadly Nazi norms manifests in Frankfurt, where, during Kristallnacht, he bribes the police to let him go.

Although Joseph is Daniel’s dad, he often treats him like an equal. As Daniel is the main character, Joseph turns into his sidekick. He supports Daniel’s participation in the resistance and talks him out of jumping into the pit of corpses. He warns, “Daniel, if you jump, I’ll jump after you” (94). He also joins the resistance and dissuades Daniel from killing a Nazi during the revolt. He reminds his son, “[W]e are not like them, If they’ve made us into them, they’ve succeeded” (115). Like Erika, Joseph functions as a voice of reason.

Ruth, Daniel and Erika’s mother, comes across as less stable and more emotional. When she sees Daniel looking through the photo album on the way to Lodz, she declares, “Nothing but horrible memories” (21). Daniel reminds her that some of the photos represent happy times. The dad suggests, “Why don’t you close your eyes for a few minutes and rest?” (21). Like her daughter, Ruth appears frail and somewhat helpless. Similar to Erika, Ruth shows she can assert herself. Daniel says, “[M]other made sure we packed our warm things and took along lots of food” (34). Ruth also gets a job at the bakery to give her family an extra loaf of bread.

Like Erika, Daniel thinks his mom is pretty. Similar to Daniel, Ruth’s name carries biblical significance. In The Book of Ruth, Ruth stays loyal to the lonely widow Naomi and deftly picks grain. In Daniel’s Story, Ruth sacrifices for her family and helps secure them as much extra food as she can manage.

Of the minor characters that make up Daniel’s large, extended family, Uncle Peter is perhaps the most influential. Daniel calls Uncle Peter “my favorite uncle” and “the unofficial family photographer” (4). Through Uncle Peter’s photography, Daniel has evidence of his innocence and what life was like before the Nazis cemented their genocidal norms. Uncle Peter is jovial and offers Daniel “birthday candies” (7), while Auntie Leah, his wife, scolds Daniel for goofing around in school. Uncle Peter’s death foreshadows the horrors in store for Daniel, the Jews, and the other targeted groups across Europe. It also turns Daniel into the family photographer.

Auntie Leah shows how resistance doesn’t always lead to survival. She refuses to abandon her two youngest daughters, Gertrude and Brigitte, and the Gestapo kills all three. Joseph characterizes Auntie Leah as a hero. He tells Friedrich, “She was brave and had the spirit of a lion” (50). Friedrich, Uncle Peter and Auntie Leah’s oldest child, doesn’t get much attention. He gives Daniel someone to hang out with—they both like girls. He also survives the war. 

Oma Miriam (Joseph’s mom) doesn’t survive the war. She rebels by making Daniel a Hitler Youth uniform and committing suicide. She kills herself before the Nazis can. In her suicide note, she states, “I’ve had a good life. I fear what is ahead. I don’t want to suffer and I don’t want to see you suffer. I go in peace” (29). Oma Rachel and Opa Samuel (Ruth’s parents) presumably die in a gas chamber, as Samuel refuses to let Rachel go on the transport without him.