Milkweed

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2003

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Chapters 37-39Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 37 Summary: “Summer”

Janina becomes enthralled with the idea of the trains. While she and Misha are out smuggling food, they overhear the sounds of oncoming trains. Janina races away, desperate to catch a glimpse of the locomotives. Misha catches hold of her and tries to prevent her from running to Stawki Station but fails to do so. Misha follows, heading to Stawski Station through yet another two-bricked hole in the wall of the ghetto. Misha sees Janina sitting on a smokestack and climbs up next to her. Misha refuses to tell Janina where the Jackboots are taking them, as a form of punishment, but Janina remains convinced that they will be going to the candy mountain.

The next day, Uncle Shepsel continues to try and convince Jewish people to repent and forsake the Jewish religion. The piper continues to march on the streets, trying to convince children to follow him to the candy mountain. Everyone in the ghetto is speaking about the trains and people estimate how many Jews will be forced out of the city every day. Misha and Janina return to the station daily and watch the violence as Jackboots force people into the trains.

The people in the ghetto begin hearing the term “resettlement” and believe that they are being forced out to settle their own villages. The Jackboots go through the city systematically, forcing people out of the ghetto. People begin holding onto the hope of resettlement, believing that their lives will finally return to normal.

Mr. Milgrom instructs Misha to stay close to Janina at all times. However, Janina is enchanted by the trains, believing that they will bring her to the candy mountain. During the days, Misha tries to visit the boys, but one by one, they disappear, and Misha is left not knowing if they have run away or been sent away and killed. The chapter ends with Misha and Janina watching as Doctor Korczak leads the singing orphans to the trains.

Chapter 38 Summary

An old man who has escaped the concentration camps returns to the ghetto to warn everyone about the falsehood of “resettlement.” People begin turning on the old man, calling him a liar. Some people receive postcards from their relatives and use them to hold onto hope that there are villages in the East they can move to. The old man tells them about the gas chambers, ovens, and ashes, but people continue to laugh and shout over him. The old man walks away from the crowd.

The next day, Mr. Milgrom urges Misha to take Janina and run away from the ghetto. Misha tells his adopted father that Janina is enchanted by the train and that she desperately wants to go to the candy mountain. Mr. Milgrom tells Misha that the candy mountain does not exist. Misha realizes that the old man is telling the truth and that Mr. Milgrom has been allowing Janina to smuggle food with Misha. This is because if Misha and Janina are smuggling, then they might also be gone during the Jackboots’ night raids.

Chapter 39 Summary

After finishing a night of smuggling, and as the children attempt to head back into the ghetto, they realize that the hole in the wall has been sealed up. The children creep along the wall to Stawki Station, trying to sneak back into the ghetto through a different hole. However, they find that the hole at Stawki Station has been blocked up as well. The children then spend the whole night attempting to find holes along the wall through which they can enter the city.

Every time Janina hears a gunshot in the night, she calls out for her father. The next morning, Misha gathers white dust and covers his face and hands with it like Uri told him to do. The children try their best not to look guilty, laughing in the streets and visiting the merry-go-round. That night, Janina screams out for her father at the wall and Misha has to tackle and silence her as a Jackboot rounds the corner towards them.

The children head towards Stawki Station, where they merge with the oncoming group of people being marched to the trains. The children shoulder past the people in the opposite direction, as Jackboots shout and dogs snarl. The children make their way back inside the ghetto but they soon realize that their building is empty. Janina searches for her father fruitlessly, while Misha notices the book of Lutherans laying forgotten on the floor.

Janina races back to Stawki Station and into the group of people being shuffled into the train boxcars. Misha is bitten by a Jackboot dog and loses sight of Janina. He is unsure if he sees a Jackboot lift Janina over his head and throw her into one of the boxcars. Misha is unable to make out Janina’s voice, but he runs as he tries to reach her. He is too late and is unable to reach Janina before the boxcar door slams closed.

Misha is clubbed, stomped on, and eventually dragged to the side by a Jackboot. The Jackboot flings Misha against a wall, reaches for a gun, and proclaims, “die, piglet!” (145). Misha recognizes the Jackboot’s voice, hair, and face, and realizes that it is Uri. Uri then shoots Misha.

Chapters 37-39 Analysis

The cornerstones of Misha’s life—the boys, Janina, and the Milgroms—have now been ripped away from him. The boys disappear one by one, Janina is thrown into a boxcar, and Mr. Milgrom has presumably already boarded one of the trains. Uri, a protective force in Misha’s life, has seemingly joined the Jackboots. The linchpins of Misha’s identity are thrown into a state of flux and as a result, Misha is as well.

This section also explores the theme of false hope. The people in the ghetto have been so devoid of hope that the Jackboots are able to manipulate them into believing that deportation and resettlement are things to be grateful for. The people’s desperate need to hope is reflected in Big Henryk “clumping after the piper,” eager for promises of the candy mountain (138). This is made especially apparent when the people in the ghetto laugh and mock the old man who risks his life to return from the concentration camp to warn the remaining Jews. Despite the old man’s warnings, people drown him out with laughter and mockery.

The theme of false hope is also presented clearly in Uncle Shepsel’s character. While Uncle Shepsel believes that the trains are taking them to villages in the East, he maintains that he will not be subjected to the same treatment due to his newfound Christianity. Uncle Shepsel maintains that he is no longer a Jew but a Lutheran, calling out, “Jews! Repent! It is not too late!” (139). Uncle Shepsel’s hope is ultimately proven to be unfounded as he, too, is taken to the trains, leaving only his book on Lutheranism behind.