1. He looked steadily at me and then answered my thoughts. “Whatever
you are thinking now is wrong. It is cowardly.” I couldn’t deny it. He
lifted my chin up and looked at me firmly again. “Promise me that no matter
what happens you will never do it.”
In Part One, Chapter 5, when Gerda finishes selling the family’s
possessions to the neighbors to finalize their move to the ghetto, she
recalls hearing of a family that committed suicide together. She
half-heartedly wishes that her parents would suggest this. As she is
considering the idea, her father walks into the room and forces her to
promise to never do it—though neither he nor Gerda specify out loud what
“it” is. This scene is the first of two major events during which Gerda’s
father gives the impression of omniscience—he knows what she is thinking
without her saying a word, and he knows what is best for her. The second
instance of her father’s wisdom is when he insists that she wear her ski
boots despite the fact that it is summer—a request that ultimately saves her
life.
Throughout the book, Gerda gives the impression of her father’s
impotence in the face of the Nazis—he cannot save his family or stop what is
happening to them. However, this scene makes clear that no matter what the
Nazis’ power, Gerda’s father still has the power to save her through small
acts such as this one. Once Gerda is sent to the labor camps, she remembers
the promise she made to her father, and it motivates her to go on. In the
Märzdorf labor camp, where Gerda is working both the day and night shifts,
she considers jumping onto the railroad tracks. At that moment, she gets a
feeling in her neck that reminds her of how her father had held her head
while making her promise to never give up. At that moment, when death seems
like the only solution, the memory of this conversation, and of her father’s
love for her, gives Gerda the courage to stay alive.
