The will to survive can alter a person’s behaviour. Which characters do you think changed throughout the story, in what instances, and why?

Was Lilli really bad or do you think her desire to survive excusable in extreme times?

In the case of Willem and his treatment of Lilli, and the wives of the SS at the private clinic, does correcting a wrong with another wrong make it right in these instances?

Hannah, Elsi's mother, keeps company with the ghetto officers in exchange for food and to prevent Leah from being sent away with the other children to a camp. Do you think she had any other choice and why?

Do you think that Frau Haus liked her job or was she only doing what she was forced to do? Discuss.

What are the qualities that separate Elsi from some of the others in the ghetto?

Apart from her Aryan appearance, why else did Willem choose to rescue Elsi in particular? 

Matilda was constantly punished for her strength of character and refusal to obey. Where do you think Matilda would have ended up had she conformed? 

Do you think Elsi was justified in killing, in her attempt to prevent the SS from finding Matilda and the last of the children rescued, and why?

Should Matilda have been given a choice by Gilda as to where she should live after the war?

And what do you imagine would have been Matilda’s life had she never been separated from Catarina and her brothers at an early age?

Do you think that Willem's ultimate action was necessary?

Do you think Elsi would have remained devoted to Willem had she learnt about the experiments at Auschwitz and the other deaths that he caused?

Who was your favourite character and why?