Dawn Characters

Elisha is an 18-year-old survivor of the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps who joins the Movement for an independent Jewish nation in Palestine. Elisha grew up in a devout Hassidic home, studying Cabala (Jewish mysticism)… read analysis of Elisha

Gad is the compelling young terrorist who recruits Elisha to join the Movement in Palestine and oversees his training there. Gad tracks down Elisha in Paris and claims to know everything about him. Elisha entrusts… read analysis of Gad

John Dawson is a British captain who is kidnapped and sentenced to execution by the Movement in reprisal for the death sentence of David ben Moshe. Dawson is a handsome man in his 40s… read analysis of John Dawson

A childhood friend of Gad’s, David ben Moshe is a Jewish freedom fighter who is taken captive and sentenced to death by the British. In retaliation, the Movement kidnaps British captain John Dawson and… read analysis of David ben Moshe

The Old Man is the anonymous leader of the Movement. Though Elisha doesn’t know the Old Man’s identity, he believes he met him during training camp, as Elisha worked with a masked instructor who had… read analysis of The Old Man

The grizzled master is Elisha’s childhood Cabala (Jewish mysticism) teacher. Elisha looked up to the master as a mentor and guide; he was especially influenced by the Master’s teaching on the sixth commandment—that it’s… read analysis of The Grizzled Master

Ilana is Gad’s girlfriend and also the “Voice of Freedom” who broadcasts on the Movement’s behalf each night in Palestine. Except for Gad, Elisha, and a few others, nobody else knows the identity… read analysis of Ilana

Catherine was a delicate blonde woman in her late 20s whom Elisha met in France after World War II. She was the first woman Elisha got to know up close, outside of his family. She… read analysis of Catherine

The little boy is the ghost of Elisha’s younger self as he was before the war began. He appears the night before Dawson’s execution and is the only one of the ghosts who… read analysis of The Little Boy

Yerachmiel is a childhood friend of Elisha’s. They studied Cabala (Jewish mysticism together under the grizzled master and prayed and fasted fervently in hopes of bringing the Messiah. The two were separated at the… read analysis of Yerachmiel