Daniel's Story

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1993

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Pictures

The literal and figurative pictures symbolize evidence. In other words, the photos Daniel takes and the images he keeps in his mind represent a form of documentation. Daniel makes the symbol behind pictures explicit when he says, “I don’t have my pictures anymore. Still, I can make pictures in my head […] so that when the time comes to tell of what happened, I will tell it clearly” (81). Initially, Daniel recreates Auschwitz from the images in his head. He doesn’t have physical pictures of the quarantined prisoners lying “together all night on the cold floor, not an inch between bodies” (83)—the image is a product of his mind. Later, when Adam helps get a camera for the resistance, he complements the pictures in his hand with real photos—he takes photos of the fire pits and Canada.

Whether literal or figurative, the purpose of the photos is evidence. They symbolize proof of brutal dehumanization and genocide. Daniel states, “I will live, and I will bear witness against them. I will remember” (81). Through the images, Daniel stockpiles evidence. He’s already planning for the Nazi trials. As he says to the SS officer/dad, “I’ll be there to testify at your trial” (116). When Daniel loses sight of the court of law and wants to kill a Nazi, Joseph reminds him, “Every live Nazi is one more we can put on trial” (115).

The photos are also proof of Daniel’s innocence and humanity. The first photograph he looks at in the book is a family photo from his sixth birthday in 1933, when Hitler just became chancellor and had yet to implement his genocidal program. His main worries aren’t survival and death; instead, they concern his rambunctious cousins or getting a model car. His mom dismisses the photos as only “horrible memories,” but Daniel corrects her, “They aren’t all so bad” (21). The photographs are evidence of relatively normal, less precarious times.

Erika’s Violin

Erika’s violin symbolizes hope—it helps her cope with the horrors of Nazism and keep her humanity. After Uncle Peter’s death, Daniel notices Erika “practicing her violin constantly” (33). On the train to the Lodz ghetto, Daniel suspects she’s “composing a song for her violin” (4). The violin brings comfort and reminds her there’s a world beyond the brutal, deadly Nazi-occupied Europe.

In Lodz, Erika “played her violin every evening, and that seemed to sustain her” (63). It’s as if the violin keeps her alive. She makes “beautiful and happy songs” (63), reinforcing the instrument’s hopeful symbolism. She asks, “Why should I write sad pieces? We’re sad enough already” (63). The purpose of the violin isn’t to emphasize their inhumane situation but to show that it’s possible to experience beauty and happiness. When Erika plays her violin for the orchestra in Lodz, Daniel describes it as “moments that made you want to stay alive” (53).

At Auschwitz, Carol Matas subverts the hopeful symbolism. Erika plays the violin in the camp band, but it doesn’t give her hope for survival. Daniel notes her skeletal figure and lifeless eyes and believes “that she’d given up” (84). The horrors of Auschwitz crush the hopeful symbolism behind the violin. In Auschwitz, what gives Erika hope is realizing her big brother and dad are alive.

Palestine

Palestine continually represents safety. It’s a place where the Jews can create their own country free from the lethal antisemitism of Nazi-occupied Europe. Even before Hitler puts his genocidal policies in place, the characters speak of Palestine as a safe haven. Joseph’s brother, Uncle Water, tells him, “Palestine is the answer […] The Jews need a country of their own” (5). The sports club Daniel joins in Frankfurt emphasizes the allure of Palestine. He describes it as “a place we all hoped would become a Jewish homeland” (59). In Lodz, Erika tells Daniel and Rosa, “I want you both to live. And to start over in Palestine” (70). While dying, Peter makes Daniel promise to go to Palestine. The book ends with Rosa and Daniel agreeing to live in Palestine together. Palestine represents security. It’s a place where Jews don’t have to worry about threats to their lives. In other words, it symbolizes safety.

The symbolism behind Palestine is problematic. Before, during, and after the Holocaust, many Jews, like some of the book’s characters, immigrated to the site of the biblical Jewish homeland, Israel, and it became a state in the 1940s. Yet Palestinians were already living there, and to create their country, Israelis killed around 15,000 Palestinians and displaced more than 750,000 Palestinians—a period known as Nakba or catastrophe (Haddad, Mohammed. “Nakba Day: What Happened in Palestine in 1948?” Al Jazeera, 2022).

Israel critics like Norman Finklestein (whose parents survived the Holocaust) and Ilan Pappe see a disturbing link between Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and the Nazi policies for European Jews. Champions of Israel tend to view criticism as antisemitic and argue Israel protects Jews from present and future persecution. The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has lasted for decades. It’s violent, deadly, and, whatever side a person takes, controversial.