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Chapter 26
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Prisoner B-3087, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Determination and Luck
Anti-Semitism and Cruelty vs. Humanity
Connection vs. Isolation
Coming of Age, Trauma, and Remembrance
Identity vs. Anonymity
Summary
Analysis
The prisoners are moved once more to a camp called Dachau. Once again, Yanek will be forced to march. It is almost spring, but the ground is still frozen, and Yanek is again grateful that he has shoes. The sides of the road are strewn with corpses. Yanek wonders who else uses the road, and whether they care about the bodies piling up around them. They pass through villages, where Yanek sees many doorways with Nazi flags.
Once again, Yanek’s shoes prove to be a lucky break that allow him to survive another death march. Additionally, Gratz returns to an idea that he explored when Yanek was on the train car to Birkenau and saw the two young boys. It is not only the Nazis who are anti-Semitic, but the German citizens who see the horrors of what is happening and choose to ignore it, who also bear some responsibility for the cruelty that is taking place.
Themes
The route to Dachau takes them through Czechoslovakia before going back into Germany, and this part of the journey is different—the Nazis are warier of trouble. The Czech people have also left small forms of resistance: bread left out on windowsills and doorways for the prisoners to find. Some villagers hang out of their windows and throw what they can to the prisoners. Their kindness in the face of the soldiers, who grow angry at these offerings, warms Yanek’s heart. The Czech people prove to him that goodness still exists.
In Czechoslovakia, by contrast, the citizens are actively resisting against the Nazis and are trying to help the prisoners. Like Yanek, they understand that outright rebellion would be futile, but that small acts of solidarity with the prisoners go a long way to buoying them physically and reminding them that there is humanity and goodness in the world.
Themes
Yanek marches for three more days, but he isn’t able to get to any food before other prisoners. He sees a kapo ahead of him with four loaves of bread—more than enough for one person. Yanek wonders if he could talk the man into giving him some. But when Yanek walks up to the kapo, he sees that it is Moonface: the man who had beaten him at every opportunity at Bergen-Belsen. Yanek quickly backs away, ready to cry over his bad luck. He knows that if he doesn’t eat by the end of the day, he will die.
Yanek initially views the fact that Moonface has returned as a stroke of bad luck, as he thinks that Moonface will be less inclined to help him because of their history. This is a prime instance in which Yanek believes that being anonymous would be much more advantageous than standing out to Moonface.
Themes
That night, when they stop, Yanek decides to be brave and tentatively approaches Moonface as he eats his bread. Moonface appears to recognize him. Yanek explains that he wants to work, but that he won’t survive without some bread. Yanek asks if Moonface could share some of his. Moonface takes out a knife and presses it against Yanek’s throat. After a long minute, Moonface pulls the knife away and cuts off a hunk of his loaf, tossing it to Yanek. Yanek nods gratefully and runs away to eat it, his heart racing. He is amazed that Moonface decided to be generous for once.
Despite Yanek’s dread at approaching Moonface due to their past interactions, Moonface’s recognition of Yanek may have been the very thing that saved him. This is a key example of how Yanek needs both determination and luck in order to survive: determination in order to ask for the bread, and luck in the fact that Moonface chooses to help him rather than kill him for asking.
Themes
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