Rachel Landau Character Analysis in Refugee

Josef and Ruthie’s mother, and Aaron’s wife. After Aaron is taken away to the Dachau concentration camp following Kristallnacht, Rachel becomes the primary caretaker in the family. But when they meet up with Aaron again six months later and board the St. Louis, Rachel starts to care primarily for the traumatized Aaron, while Josef takes responsibility for Ruthie and is forced into increasingly mature situations. When Aaron dives into the water to try to commit suicide and is taken to mainland Cuba, Rachel is distraught and Josef must become the adult in the family. When the St. Louis leaves Cuba, Rachel tries to become hopeful again and spends much of her time in the ship’s dance hall, but this too becomes a shirking of her responsibilities and only makes Josef’s burden heavier. At the end of the book, when the Nazis force Rachel to choose one of her children to set free and one to be sent into the concentration camps, Josef completely assumes the role of adult in her place, and chooses to sacrifice himself to save Ruthie.

Rachel Landau Quotes in Refugee

The Refugee quotes below are all either spoken by Rachel Landau or refer to Rachel Landau. 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:

It all came flooding back to him now—swaying and humming along with the prayers, craning his neck to see the Torah when it was taken out of the ark and hoping to get a chance to touch it and then kiss his fingers as the scroll came around in a procession. Josef felt his skin tingle. The Nazis had taken all this from them, from him, and now he and the passengers on the ship were taking it back.

Related Characters: , ,

Page Number and Citation: 74

Explanation and Analysis:

A week into Josef’s journey on the St. Louis, the social hall is converted into a synagogue and Josef is able to have his bar mitzvah on the ship. Josef recalls how he had not been able to attend synagogue since before Kristallnacht, since after this event German Jews became afraid of gathering together in public spaces for fear of Nazi retaliation. Josef’s memories of the services and his excitement at being able to revive these traditions emphasize the importance of his cultural heritage. But the fact that Josef is able to practice these traditions once more on the St. Louis, when he had not been able to do so in Germany, illustrates Gratz’s argument that one does not need to be in one’s homeland in order to retain one’s cultural heritage. Instead, it is Josef’s family and the community of others like him that enable his continued attachment to Judaism—Josef’s mother, Rachel, is the one who takes him to the service on board the ship, and the other Jewish passengers understand the importance of maintaining their cultural heritage in the face of displacement and potential erasure.

For as much as he’d wanted to grow up, Josef wished now that he could join them. Be a little kid again, cheerfully oblivious to what was going on around him.

But he wasn’t a kid anymore. He had responsibilities. Like keeping his sister and his mother safe.

Related Characters: Ruthie Landau/Rosenberg, Josef Landau, Pozner, Rachel Landau

Page Number and Citation: 253

Explanation and Analysis:

“Don’t you see?” Lito said. “The Jewish people on the ship were seeking asylum, just like us. They needed a place to hide from Hitler. From the Nazis. Mañana, we told them. We’ll let you in mañana. But we never did.” Lito was crying now, distraught. “We sent them back to Europe and Hitler and the Holocaust. Back to their deaths. How many of them died because we turned them away? Because I was just doing my job?”

Related Characters: Lito/Mariano Padron (speaker), Isabel Fernandez, Josef Landau, Rachel Landau, Ruthie Landau/Rosenberg, Aaron Landau, Mahmoud Bishara

Related Symbols: Boats

Page Number and Citation: 276

Explanation and Analysis:

I don’t remember much about him, but I do remember he always wanted to be a grown-up. “I don’t have time for games,” he would tell me. “I’m a man now.” And when those soldiers said one of us could go free and the other would be taken to a concentration camp, Josef said, “Take me.”

My brother, just a boy, becoming a man at last.

Related Characters: Ruthie Landau/Rosenberg (speaker), Hana Bishara, Saul Rosenberg, Rachel Landau, Mahmoud Bishara, Josef Landau

Page Number and Citation: 315

Explanation and Analysis:

Rachel Landau Character Timeline in Refugee

The timeline below shows where the character Rachel Landau appears in Refugee. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Family, Displacement, and Culture Theme Icon

The soldiers then drag Josef and Ruthie into the living room, where the children’s mother, Rachel, and father, Aaron, are. They accuse Josef’s father of practicing law, despite the fact that... (full context)

...him, saying that if he’s a man, he could go to the camps as well. Rachel cries in protest. The Nazis drag Aaron away, warning Josef not to be “so quick... (full context)

Injustice and Cruelty vs. Empathy and Social Responsibility Theme Icon

...Broken Glass.” Josef and the others know it means that they aren’t wanted in Germany. Rachel, meanwhile, tries fruitlessly to find Aaron. They do not hear about him until six months... (full context)

Josef, Ruthie, and Rachel board a train to Hamburg and sit in a compartment labeled J, for Jew. They... (full context)

...building. Above the ship flies the Nazi flag, with the swastika in the middle. As Rachel, Josef, and Ruthie stand on the dock, a shabby man stumbles out from behind a... (full context)

...other passengers in line to board and streaks up the gangway, with Josef, Ruthie, and Rachel running to catch up to him with their luggage. She apologizes to the sailor taking... (full context)

As Josef, Ruthie, and Rachel board the ship, Josef is amazed that all of the sailors on board treat them... (full context)

...and his family “with kindness and respect,” though Aaron hasn’t left their cabin once, and Rachel has barely left his side. Josef also notes that the other passengers—who are all Jewish—are... (full context)

...they have to hide or get off the ship to avoid the Nazis. Josef and Rachel try to restrain Aaron while he panics, and Josef explains that they’re slowing down because... (full context)

...attending the funeral because he had seen “too many men die without funerals at Dachau.” Rachel and Ruthie stay behind while Josef and Aaron go to the A-deck for the funeral... (full context)

...the social hall. Josef runs back to his cabin and explains what is happening to Rachel and Aaron. Josef is concerned that Aaron will be deemed “too mentally disturbed to enter... (full context)

Rachel and Josef escort Aaron to the social hall. As the doctor approaches them in line,... (full context)

Rachel starts to cry, but Aaron pulls himself together and stands at attention like a prisoner.... (full context)

...no choice but to bring Schiendick to his family’s cabin, where Aaron is napping and Rachel is reading. Schiendick and two firemen ransack the room, smashing the mirror and knocking the... (full context)

Josef, Aaron, and Rachel huddle in the corner. When there is nothing left to destroy, Schiendick spits at Aaron,... (full context)

...room against the door in terror following the incident with Schiendick, even after Josef and Rachel have cleaned the cabin up. Ruthie crouches in a corner, crying and hugging her mended... (full context)

Rachel tells Ruthie to go to the pool, and she tells Josef that she’s going to... (full context)

Rachel returns within minutes, but she is panicked now, too. She says that the doctor made... (full context)

...return, however, Aaron is no longer in the cabin. Josef instructs Ruthie to stay with Rachel, who is still asleep, and goes to search for his father. Josef runs into the... (full context)

Josef, Rachel, and Ruthie go to talk to Padron. Rachel asks how Aaron is. Padron says through... (full context)

...play games, but the adults walk around mournfully. The only adult who appears happy is Rachel. For days she had locked herself in their cabin, crying and mourning for Aaron. But... (full context)

Josef finds Rachel in the dance hall, and she asks him to dance with her. Josef refuses, thinking... (full context)

...the bandleader says that there will be an announcement in the social hall. Josef and Rachel go to the hall, where they see a few passengers who had been working as... (full context)

...the passengers that they are going to try to find other landing places in Europe. Rachel returns to the dance hall, saying that other people will figure out a plan, but... (full context)

...to divide the refugees among them. The passengers throw an enormous party in celebration. Josef, Rachel, and Ruthie are assigned to France. Josef had wanted to go to England, across the... (full context)

Josef, Ruthie, and Rachel arrive in France exactly 40 days after leaving on the ship. Josef thinks of the... (full context)

Josef, Rachel, and Ruthie spend the night in a hotel before taking a train to Le Mans,... (full context)

One year after arriving in France, Josef, Ruthie, and Rachel are hiding in a tiny schoolhouse in Vornay, trying to avoid the Nazi soldiers and... (full context)

...window and sees Nazi soldiers entering the building. He breaks a nearby window and helps Rachel and Ruthie out, glass ripping through his coat and into his skin. The Nazis spot... (full context)

The Nazis catch up to them, and search Rachel’s coat for papers. The Nazis see that they are Jewish, and tell them that they... (full context)

The Nazi soldier examines the earrings, then tells Rachel that they are only enough to buy freedom for one of her children. Josef understands:... (full context)

...and raised her as family. When the war was over, she searched for Josef and Rachel, but they had both died in the camps. Then she met her husband Saul, and... (full context)

Rachel Landau Character Analysis

Rachel Landau Quotes in Refugee

Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean – 1939, 8 days Quotes

Josef: Atlantic Ocean – 1939, 22 days Quotes

Isabel: Coast of Florida – 1994, 5 days (3) Quotes

Mahmoud: Berlin Germany – 2015, Home Quotes

Rachel Landau Character Timeline in Refugee