Victor Character Analysis

Victor is a Polish man who lives near the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau with his wife and son, Yuri. Together with Yuri, he comes to Birkenau during the days to work as a paid laborer, helping to construct the multiple crematoriums. It is while doing this that he meets Lale and starts giving him extra food, slipping rations into Lale’s supplies bag. A compassionate man who wants to help in whatever small way he can, he insists that Lale need not compensate him for the food, but Lale starts bringing him jewels and money that other prisoners find while going through the valuables confiscated from new arrivals by the Nazis. In this way, Lale establishes a working relationship with Victor and Yuri, bringing them valuables in exchange for sausage, chocolate, and even medication when necessary.