Then

Having helped Zelda to reconcile her feelings toward her parents, Felix feels it is time for him to leave, and this decision reflects his presence of mind and stalwart attitude to choosing the most pragmatic course of action to keep his loved ones safe. His presence truthfully does endanger his family, but the necessity of such a young child making such a momentous decision reflects the innate cruelty of the time period. Felix writes “a long sto­ry about the things the Na­zis have done to [his] fam­i­ly and Dov’s fam­i­ly and all the oth­er peo­ple they’ve hurt too” (99). Thus, even in the midst of his haste and urgency, Felix’s appreciation for The Power of Storytelling prompts him to preserve his, Zelda’s, and Genia’s stories through writing, for his experiences have taught him that the manuscripts might well outlive their subjects. In this way, Felix uses stories to capture a small fragment of immortality for himself and his loved ones, ensuring that their story will one day be known, regardless of what happens to them personally.

Small clues throughout the novel indicate that Felix was incorrect in his initial assessment of Mr. Krol, the turnip farmer who offered him and Zelda a ride before they met Genia. The boy Felix saw unconscious under the pile of turnips in Mr. Krol’s wagon turned out to be Dov; this early encounter explains why Dov seemed familiar to Felix when he visited the barn to see Leopold. The flier advertising a bounty on Jews was a form of disguise for Mr. Krol, just as dyeing the children’s hair was for Genia. Their methods of helping the fugitive children likely differed due to Mr. Krol and Genia’s different social situations. Genia mentioned people in town asking about the children, and her local interactions indicate that she has good social standing amongst her neighbors. By contrast, Cyryl calls Mr. Krol “that Jew lov­er Krol” (106) and indicates that the Nazis have been suspicious of him for some time. This dynamic makes it likely that Mr. Krol was already something of an outcast amongst the local townspeople. Ultimately, Genia and Zelda are arrested and hanged for defending Mr. Krol, who was attempting to buy clothes for Dov. Mr. Krol’s attempted purchase is a clear signal to Mrs. Szynsky that Mr. Krol is hiding a child at home.

As Felix’s mind reels from the loss of Zelda and Genia, his mind once again turns toward The Desire for Revenge. With nothing left to lose, he turns to Dov, the last potential ally he has. Having stolen the Nazi soldiers’ bag of grenades the night he offered to go hunting Nazis with Felix, Dov has the means to carry out a plan of revenge, so they plan to use the grenades to do as much damage as possible. This decision marks a crucial turning point for Felix and his inner character development; traumatized anew by the loss of his chosen family, Felix is fearless in his rage and need for revenge, and for the first time, he wants to be deliberately cruel. As he says himself, “All I’m think­ing about is how many of them I can kill. And how many of their families I can hurt. Families suf­fer a lot when fathers and sons are blown to pieces. Some­times they go mad. Some­times they starve” (109). The deaths of his mother and father, Barney, Chaya, the orphans, and now Zelda and Genia have seared into his mind the pain that surviving family members feel when their loved ones are murdered. His intent to not just kill the soldiers and Hitler Youth but to intentionally use their deaths to hurt their families stems directly from the pain of losing his own family and his recognition that The Importance of Family is a universal human trait.

As understandable as his feelings are, this impulse to indiscriminately kill is completely out of character for Felix. Although he adopts Dov’s rhetoric and refers to Amon as “Hitler Youth vermin” (109), seeing Amon face-to-face derails his desire for revenge almost immediately, demonstrating once again Amon’s role as a humanizing element in the novel. Even though Amon is well-liked by the SS for being a reliable translator, he is still a child; there was little he could do to save Zelda and Genia. The most he is able to accomplish is to save the locket they made for “Wilhelm’s” birthday. Seeing the hand-drawn pictures of Felix and Zelda, Felix is reminded that Zelda would never want him to kill, let alone sacrifice his own life. His decision to live can be summed up simply, for he says, “I’m Zel­da’s ev­i­dence” (113). If Felix were to die by suicide in the attempted bombing, Zelda’s memory would truly disappear. Instead, she lives on through him, making Felix want to become the best person he can for the sake of her memory.