Friedrich

Friedrich is the story’s main protagonist. He is a young Jewish boy who grows up during the rise of the Nazi party and must confront increasingly verbal and physical antisemitism. In many ways, he is just like the narrator, except that he comes from a more affluent family and is better than the narrator at certain things, like math and swimming. His physical appearance is left undescribed, because he and the other characters are not only supposed to be individual actors but representative figures for the German-Jewish youth at that time. Nevertheless, as an individual, Friedrich possesses several important characteristics. He is friendly, loyal, helpful, thankful, resilient, and courageous.

Regardless of the deteriorating situation, he is always grateful that the narrator remains his friend, even when the narrator distances himself from Friedrich. Friedrich never complains and makes the best of the situation. In fact, he is the voice of reason and positivity when his father, who was formerly positive and calm, becomes desperate and cynical after the Pogrom and the death of his wife. He never reproaches the narrator or his family about the father being in the Nazi party, or that they don’t do enough to fight the injustice. He accepts their passivity stoically. He is always the narrator’s friend. Friedrich also shows great love and empathy toward Hilda, the girl he has a crush on, breaking off their relationship to protect her. He is courageous in many instances, but none more so than when he leaves the bunker and faces the air-raid alone, ultimately to his demise.

Herr and Frau Schneider, like Friedrich and the narrator, are given little personal description. They form a stereotypical German-Jewish husband and wife/father and mother, which makes their tragedy less specific to them as characters and more universal to the German-Jewish people who suffered under the Nazis as a whole.

Herr Schneider (who is never given a first name) is a typical German-Jewish man. He works for the Post office in a managerial position. In German, the word for his position is Beamter, and it’s a special sort of government official that carries with it certain socio-economic perks. Herr Schneider has a distinctly German job, one that signifies him as a German citizen more than a Jewish-German citizen. This is important because, as he later points out, Herr Schneider fully identifies as German, which negates much of the Nazi rhetoric that attempted to paint the Jews as a people undermining the German nation and people. In the beginning of the book, he is a positive and hopeful character but gives over to despair and cynicism following the Pogrom and the death of his wife. From a religious perspective, Herr Schneider is the typical Jewish patriarch and follows the teachings and observances of his religion. He is also very open about Judaism and has no qualms with sharing aspects of his religion with others (e.g., the narrator or Teacher Neudorf).

Frau Schneider is a typical German and Jewish mother. At the time, women were hardly ever allowed to work and if then, only with their husband’s consent. Therefore, she remains at home taking care of Friedrich, cooking, and maintaining a clean house. The cleanliness of her apartment is juxtaposed with the narrator’s, especially when it is pointed out that his mother does not have as much time to clean their place because she must clean for others. Frau Schneider is, in the beginning, a happy and playful wife and mother, witnessed in Chapter 3 in the way she plays with Friedrich in the snow. However, as Nazi antisemitism increases and their lives become more difficult, Frau Schneider is increasingly fearful and fretful. Ultimately, her worst fears are realized, and she is one of the many killed during Kristallnacht, the November pogrom.

Like the Schneiders, the narrator’s parents serve more as narrative-types than individual characters. They are never given names, or physical descriptions. They represent the German working-class prior to the rise of the Nazi party, when they become more affluent while their Jewish neighbors are terrorized and deported.

The narrator’s father is unemployed at the beginning of the story. Little else is known about his history or about what he does with his days, other than looking for work. He loves potato pancakes. Like many, he does his best to hide his pecuniary situation. For example, when the Schneiders invite everyone to the amusement park after Friedrich’s and the narrator’s first day of school, the narrator’s father spends what little money the family has so that they can participate in the day’s festivities and not just accept gifts from the Schneiders. It is important to note, however, that the narrator’s father never once expresses antisemitic feelings, something that others in his position may have done, falsely equating the Schneiders’ affluent position with the fact that they’re Jewish. Ultimately, the narrator’s father joins the Nazi party not because of any shared ideology but simply because the Nazi affiliation finally gets him a well-paying job. He is willing to overlook the evil inherent in Nazi ideology for his family’s well-being.

The narrator’s mother is very much like Frau Schneider except she is not Jewish and has less money. She must clean for other families since her husband is unemployed, something of which she is ashamed. She comes from a middle-class German family, as evidenced by the fact that her father works for the railroad and supplies his daughter’s family with enough money for rent. Unlike her husband, her sentiments about Nazi antisemitism are given voice, and the reader learns about her shock, disgust, and fear at the increasing violence and persecution. However, she also remains passive in her defiance, secretly helping the Schneiders in ways that are the least dangerous, through food, sympathy, and silence.