Prisoner B-3087 Themes

Prisoner B-3087 is a historical novel based on the true story of Jack Gruener, who is born Yanek Gruener. Yanek is a Jewish boy from Poland who, against all odds, survives the Kraków ghetto and 10 different concentration camps during the Holocaust between 1939 and 1945. This is a remarkable feat, as the Nazis’ attempt to eliminate the Jewish people resulted in the deaths of 90 percent of Poland’s Jewish population and six million…

Anti-Semitism is central to Prisoner B-3087, as it follows Jewish protagonist Yanek Gruener during the Holocaust, in which the Nazis targeted and systematically murdered Jewish people and other marginalized groups in Europe. As Gratz tracks Yanek’s journey through the Kraków ghetto in Poland, as well as 10 different concentration camps, he illustrates how the Nazis used the prejudiced view that Jews were subhuman as a justification for unspeakable atrocities and cruelty. But more than…

Prisoner B-3087 follows Yanek from the time he is 10 years old, living in Kraków, Poland, to the time when he is liberated at Dachau at 16 years old. In those six years, Yanek experiences a great deal of trauma: the loss of his family, the abuse of 10 different concentration camps, the constant threat of death, and the genocide of the Jewish people. Gratz illustrates how, because of this trauma, Yanek is forced to…

Central to Prisoner B-3087 is the loss of identity—it is even inherent in the title. Yanek’s journey through concentration camps strips him of all indications of identity and relegates him to a number. While this number is forced onto him by the Nazis, he must also adopt anonymity in order to avoid standing out and risking death. Yet this lack of identity comes at a cost: as Yanek and his fellow prisoners loses…