Sarah’s Key

Sarah’s Key

by

Tatiana De Rosnay

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Sarah’s Key: Chapter 32 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Still in her meeting with Lévy, Julia asks him to help her trace the family that lived in the rue de Saintonge before the Tézacs moved in. Lévy agrees on the condition that Julia will not publish the information. Lévy is able to find information that indicates Wladyslaw and Rywka were transported from the Beaune-la-Rolande internment camp on convoy 15, which Julia knows traveled directly to Auschwitz. Sarah, however, is not listed as having left Beaune-la-Rolande. (Most of the children at the camp, Lévy explains, were sent back to Paris, to the camp at Drancy, and then deported to Auschwitz.) Lévy also shows Julia a school photo of Sarah wearing her yellow star. Julia asks if Sarah could have possibly escaped the camp and survived the Holocaust and Lévy responds that it is possible, but warns her about digging too deep into the past. That night, Julia shares what she has learned with Guillaume and he gives her the same advice as Lévy, saying, “Sometimes, it’s better not to know.”
This chapter confirms that the rue de Saintonge apartment is the Starzynskis’ old apartment. It is also the first time Julia sees a photo of Sarah; Sarah’s eyes will haunt Julia throughout the novel and will be the first way Julia is able to recognize Sarah’s son, William. Most importantly, this chapter foreshadows the fallout that will occur in the Tézac family and in Julia’s personal life due to her research on Sarah. Guillaume’s warning will ultimately be disproven, as various characters will find catharsis in learning Sarah’s story, but not without serious emotional repercussions.
Themes
Remembrance and History Theme Icon
The Power of Silence Theme Icon
Quotes