Prisoner B-3087

by

Alan Gratz

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Prisoner B-3087 makes teaching easy.
Isaac is a boy in Yanek’s barracks at Plaszów concentration camp. When Yanek discovers the crawlspace under the floorboard there, he shares this information with Isaac and another boy named Thomas. Yanek is glad to have their company—not only for the ability to talk about themselves and their previous lives, but also because he feels that he is making a difference by helping them.

Isaac Quotes in Prisoner B-3087

The Prisoner B-3087 quotes below are all either spoken by Isaac or refer to Isaac. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Determination and Luck Theme Icon
).
Chapter 12 Quotes

I don’t know why I showed them. Not when you survived by looking out for yourself and only yourself. Maybe it was because I’d wanted someone to help me when I had needed it. Maybe it was just that I would be lonely in there all day. But maybe it was that I just couldn’t keep the secret from someone else who could use help too. I’d done that with the black-market food Moshe had bought for us, and I’d felt guilty.

Related Characters: Yanek Gruener (speaker), Uncle Moshe, Thomas, Isaac
Page Number: 90
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20 Quotes

“Where are you from?” Fred asked me while we worked.

I hesitated, remembering Uncle Moshe’s warnings. But Fred was the first person close to my age I’d met since hiding under the floors at Plaszów with Isaac and Thomas. I loved just talking again. Being human.

Related Characters: Yanek Gruener (speaker), Fred (speaker), Uncle Moshe, Thomas, Isaac
Page Number: 157
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 27 Quotes

Farther inside Czechoslovakia, some of the villagers hung out of their windows to throw whatever they had to us—crusts of bread, half-eaten apples, raw potatoes. The Czechs couldn’t share much—there was a war on, after all, and food was hard to come by. But their kindness in the face of the Nazi soldiers and their guns warmed my heart. It was easy to think the worst of humanity when all I saw was brutality and selfishness, and these people showed me there was still good in the world, even if I rarely saw it.

Related Characters: Yanek Gruener (speaker), Fred, Boy, Thomas, Isaac
Related Symbols: Bread
Page Number: 224-225
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Prisoner B-3087 LitChart as a printable PDF.
Prisoner B-3087 PDF

Isaac Quotes in Prisoner B-3087

The Prisoner B-3087 quotes below are all either spoken by Isaac or refer to Isaac. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Determination and Luck Theme Icon
).
Chapter 12 Quotes

I don’t know why I showed them. Not when you survived by looking out for yourself and only yourself. Maybe it was because I’d wanted someone to help me when I had needed it. Maybe it was just that I would be lonely in there all day. But maybe it was that I just couldn’t keep the secret from someone else who could use help too. I’d done that with the black-market food Moshe had bought for us, and I’d felt guilty.

Related Characters: Yanek Gruener (speaker), Uncle Moshe, Thomas, Isaac
Page Number: 90
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20 Quotes

“Where are you from?” Fred asked me while we worked.

I hesitated, remembering Uncle Moshe’s warnings. But Fred was the first person close to my age I’d met since hiding under the floors at Plaszów with Isaac and Thomas. I loved just talking again. Being human.

Related Characters: Yanek Gruener (speaker), Fred (speaker), Uncle Moshe, Thomas, Isaac
Page Number: 157
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 27 Quotes

Farther inside Czechoslovakia, some of the villagers hung out of their windows to throw whatever they had to us—crusts of bread, half-eaten apples, raw potatoes. The Czechs couldn’t share much—there was a war on, after all, and food was hard to come by. But their kindness in the face of the Nazi soldiers and their guns warmed my heart. It was easy to think the worst of humanity when all I saw was brutality and selfishness, and these people showed me there was still good in the world, even if I rarely saw it.

Related Characters: Yanek Gruener (speaker), Fred, Boy, Thomas, Isaac
Related Symbols: Bread
Page Number: 224-225
Explanation and Analysis: