Projekt 1065

Simon is a British, and Jewish, Royal Air Force pilot who is gunned down outside Berlin and discovered by Michael. When Michael’s parents hide Simon in their home and devise a plan to get him out of Germany, the O’Shaunesseys’ fight against the Nazis suddenly takes on much higher stakes. Simon plays an important role in the novel’s plot, as Michael works to help Simon recover the plans to the Germans’ Projekt 1065 so he can share them with the Allies. More importantly, Simon spurs Michael’s emotional development throughout the novel: As Michael grows to care for Simon, he views the fight against the Nazis on a deeper, more personal level. At the same time, Simon prompts Michael to understand the larger meaning and purpose of the war.

Michael and Simon are Irish and Englishmen, respectively, and thus are part of an ethnic feud going back generations. Michael and the pilot trade frequent jokes about the Irish and English, which helps to raise their spirits in the most dangerous of situations. The fact that an Irish boy and an English Jew can connect so quickly and strongly also points out how meaningless distinctions between nationality and race can be—and of course, these are the same distinctions the Nazis work so hard to emphasize. This is just one example of how Michael and Simon’s relationship challenges Nazi doctrine; another is the fact that they bond over English detective novels that the Germans have banned as threats to Nazi culture. While Michael is initially uninterested in the novels, Simon points out that the Allies are “‘fighting to give people everywhere the right […] to read what they want, to think for themselves’” (70). As a result, Simon pushes Michael to examine the greater mission behind the war.

Simon also helps Michael to grow on a more personal level, particularly by encouraging Michael to overcome his fear of heights. Simon reveals his own lifelong fear of birds to Michael, and tells the boy that “a real phobia” is a “serious thing” (92); by acknowledging the validity of Michael’s feelings, and sharing his own vulnerabilities, Simon helps Michael become stronger. Simon also prompts Michael to practice his already strong skills in retaining information, and in the end, these improved skills allow Michael to reconstruct the Projekt 1065 plans from memory.

Simon’s greatest lesson for Michael occurs at the end of the novel, when Simon sacrifices himself for the Allied cause. Simon not only devises a plan for Michael to turn him in and thus gain access to a special Nazi team; the pilot also intentionally causes himself to be shot and killed, ensuring he won’t be tortured and reveal information. As a result of Simon’s selfless act, Michael has seen “firsthand the sacrifices the Allies had made” (296) to stop the Nazis, and Michael understands why stopping the Nazis is so important. Michael tells Goldsmit, who will aid the Allies in developing the atomic bomb, that “‘a good man died to save you’” (297). By the end of the novel, Simon clearly comes across as a “‘good man’” whose memory will continue to inspire Michael, both in the war effort and beyond. 

Michael’s classmate Fritz begins the novel as a target for bullies, with his short stature and arms and legs so thin they’re “like the wooden stick limbs of a marionette” (27). Michael teaches Fritz fighting skills and encourages him to stand up for himself, and for a while the two develop a true, meaningful friendship. However, Fritz goes beyond defending himself and transforms into one of the bullies, and his character arc becomes an example of how Nazi ideology corrupts young, impressionable minds.

At the opening of the novel, Michael is worried by Fritz’s near-worship of Hitler and his dream of joining the SS, the Nazi’s fiercest soldiers. However, when Michael learns that Fritz’s father has the blueprints for Projekt 1065, Michael decides to befriend the boy and learns that Fritz has many redeeming qualities. Fritz saves Michael from falling to his death and promises not to reveal Michael’s fear of heights to the other boys; Fritz also has a secret stash of English detective novels that he loves and refuses to burn, despite the Nazis’ penchant for book-burning. Clearly, Fritz can still think for himself and recognize free thinking as valuable when the Nazis do not, and Michael respects Fritz for his decision to trust Michael with “his deep dark secret” (147).

However, once Fritz is accepted into the SRD—the junior Gestapo—and the other boys look up to him for the fighting skills and confidence that Michael taught him, this new power begins to corrupt Fritz. Michael realizes how much Fritz has changed when Fritz spearheads the SRD’s decision to turn their teacher, Melcher, in to the Gestapo. Michael realizes that Fritz has become “colder” and “meaner” (168), viewing his teacher as an “‘old relic’” to “‘get rid of’” (172). As Fritz’s transformation continues, Michael sees how much Hitler’s propaganda has overtaken Fritz’s rationality: When Hitler delivers a rousing speech, promising the boys that they “‘will rule the world’” (226), Fritz appears ready to “kiss the ground Hitler walked on” (227). Soon after this incident, Michael catches Fritz burning the books he once loved, and Michael concludes that Fritz has “become the bully himself” (237). Thus, Fritz’s character arc illustrates how the Nazis managed to strip the humanity from a generation of boys, convincing these teenagers that they could possess power through “fierce cruelty” (236).

At the end of the novel, Fritz’s loyalty to the Nazis becomes his downfall, as he’s willing to die in his attempt to assassinate a scientist working for the Allies. Thinking back on Fritz’s death, Michael invokes the Hitler Youth motto: Fritz “lived faithfully and fought bravely. But he hadn’t died laughing” (301). With this appraisal, the author acknowledges Fritz’s admirable qualities—his strength and willingness to fight for what he believes in—but emphasizes how the Nazis turned Fritz’s strength against him. Like an entire generation of boy soldiers, Fritz lost his youth, his identity, and ultimately his life at the hands of a regime of “bull[ies]” (53).

Michael’s Da, Davin, is the Irish ambassador to Germany and a man who believes in freedom enough to risk his own life aiding the Allies. Da passes German info to the Allies and even harbors a Jewish pilot in the embassy, acts that would sentence him to death in a concentration camp if discovered. However, Da is the more practical and cautious of Michael’s parents, and he frequently disapproves of Michael putting himself in danger. Da is angry that Michael risked himself to save Simon, and he tells his son that a 13-year-old has “‘no business putting your life on the line for anything’” (66). As the novel progresses, Da does reluctantly support Michael in foiling an assassination plot, despite the danger involved. At the same time, Da condemns the ever “‘more abominable’” (231) Nazis for using children as soldiers, and he isn’t willing to sacrifice his own family for the war effort. Da requests a transfer, ensuring his wife and son will be safely out of Germany before Michael can become a soldier himself.

If Michael’s Da is the “‘legit side’” (72) of the O’Shaunessey family, his Ma, Megan, is “‘the clandestine part’” (72). Michael’s Ma trained with Irish Intelligence from the age of 16, so she’s more encouraging of Michael’s own spying, especially because she believes women and children are often the best spies—“‘people always underestimate us’” (73), she tells her son. Ma has taught Michael how to lie and sneak into places where he’s not welcome, which leads to frequent arguments with her more cautious husband. However, by the end of the novel, even Ma agrees that Germany has become too dangerous for Michael and the rest of the family, and she supports Da’s plan to move the family to a safer country.

Melcher is Michael’s bad-tempered teacher who has “too many titles” (28), including titles for his doctorate and his service in World War I. Despite the professor’s gruff demeanor, Michael has “a soft spot for the old codger” (29), as Michael suspects his teacher doesn’t approve of the Nazis. As the novel continues, Melcher’s criticism of the Nazis grows clearer: He points out that Hitler is a hypocrite who espouses an Aryan ideal while he himself has a dark complexion, and he questions the Nazis’ definition of cultural purity. Michael later notices a telegram informing Melcher that his son died on the Russian front, and the boy now knows for sure that Melcher has been “faking his loyalty” (176) to the Nazis all along. However, Fritz and the other SRD members also pick up on Melcher’s lack of patriotism, and they attack their teacher and turn him in to the Gestapo, likely condemning him to death. Therefore, Melcher’s fate illustrates the disaster that befalls any German who refuses to conform to the party line, and explains why so many Germans are afraid to speak up for what they believe.

Melcher’s fate also forces Michael to wrestle with the larger dilemma of when to save an individual, and when to act in favor of the greater good. Michael wants to stand up for Melcher but realizes if he does so, his family might be targeted next, and he would certainly lose the chance to get the Projekt 1065 plans from Fritz. When the SRD boys take Melcher away, Michael and Melcher exchange a look in which both understand the other’s hatred for Nazis, and the reason Michael can’t defend his teacher. As Michael says, the professor, “to his own shame,” had “been silent too” (177). Nazi Germany has forced good people like Michael and Melcher to accept and even participate in the atrocities around them, but Michael hopes that despite his choice to sacrifice Melcher, he can still fight for the larger cause and help the Allies win the war.