The Commandant Character Analysis in The Devil’s Arithmetic

A commandant is the person in charge of a concentration camp. The commandant at Hannah’s concentration camp is a fearsome figure whose appearance always means that prisoners are about to die. It becomes Hannah’s responsibility to help the children hide whenever the commandant comes down to visit their part of the camp, since children aren’t allowed to be in the camp.

The Commandant Quotes in The Devil’s Arithmetic

The The Devil’s Arithmetic quotes below are all either spoken by The Commandant or refer to The Commandant. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

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Suddenly Hannah noticed that one of the camp babies was still cradled in a wash tub. Without stopping to ask, she grabbed it up and ran with the child into the middle of the midden. Garbage slipped along her bare legs.

Related Characters: Hannah/Chaya, Rivka/Aunt Eva , The Commandant

Page Number and Citation: 123

Explanation and Analysis:

The commandant stood up and stared at her, his eyes gray and unreadable. “Are you his sister?”

She shook her head dumbly, afraid to say more.

“That is good. For you.”

Related Characters: The Commandant (speaker), Hannah/Chaya, Yitzchak, Reuven

Related Symbols: Chimneys

Page Number and Citation: 144

Explanation and Analysis:

When it was silent at last, the commandant threw the shoes on top of Fayge’s body. “Let them all go up the stack,” he said. “Call the Kommandos. Schnell!”

Related Characters: The Commandant (speaker), Hannah/Chaya, Rivka/Aunt Eva , Shmuel, Fayge, Grandpa Will

Related Symbols: Chimneys

Page Number and Citation: 159

Explanation and Analysis:

The Commandant Character Timeline in The Devil’s Arithmetic

The timeline below shows where the character The Commandant appears in The Devil’s Arithmetic. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...Shifre that the most important rule is to hide in the midden—the garbage dump—whenever the commandant comes to inspect the camp, since children under 14 aren’t supposed to be in the... (full context)

Early the next day, the commandant comes down for an inspection. Rivka begins making a clicking sound like a cricket in... (full context)

The commandant comes to the camp again, and the rumor is that there will be a “Choosing”... (full context)

...better to leave the task of making plans to adults. Suddenly, they hear that the commandant is coming again, even though he was just there the previous day. (full context)

Once again, the children rush toward the garbage dump to hide from the commandant. Hannah sees that Reuven has not run yet, and as the commandant’s car comes, Reuven... (full context)

The commandant asks Hannah where Reuven’s mother is. Hannah says that she’s dead, then, remembering Rivka’s rule... (full context)

The commandant is there again the next morning for a roll call. Hannah sees that Shmuel has... (full context)

The commandant gives a speech about how Shmuel and the other men standing in front of him... (full context)