Salt to the Sea: 19. Florian Summary & Analysis

The next morning, Florian wonders if he dreamed his conversations with Joana. He is attracted to her, but realizes staying with her will slow him down, and time is of the essence. He decides to leave early in the morning. Before he goes he looks through Joana’s suitcase and steals an unnamed object. He thinks to himself “it wasn’t stealing. It was protection.” Ingrid wakes up and looks at him, but because she is blind Florian assumes she does not know what he is doing. 

Outside, as Florian reorganizes his things, he thinks of Dr. Lange, the art director back in Königsberg with whom Florian apprenticed. Florian had loved Dr. Lange, and worked with him to restore artwork that had been stolen by the Nazis, although Florian didn’t realize this is where the artwork was coming from at the time.

Over the years, Florian began to realize that Dr. Lange was not as wonderful as he seemed. For starters, he collaborated with Gauleiter Erich Koch, a high-ranking Nazi official. Additionally, one day Florian was in a back room and found a stack of unopened letters. When Florian was training at art school he had written Dr. Lange frequently, and on this day he realized the Dr. had never read a single one of his notes. Florian snaps out of his reveries when Emilia runs out of the barn behind him.