Childlike Innocence

Friedman demonstrates the narrator's true innocence in the chapter titled, "Evacuation." As Carl is burying her dolls in the neighbors yard, Simon appears and asks what she is doing. Carl responds, "'Don't tell anyone, I whisper,' it's a secret. I'm burying them, because as soon as the SS come they'll take them all away and give them to other children.'" The narrator displays complete ignorance and childlike understanding of a very complex topic. She believes that SS men are still present in daily life and can invade at any time. Her father's stories should not have been told to such a young child, because they were interpreted very literally and they have an impact on her everyday life. She believes that the word "camp" only refers to the concentration camps her father has told her all about, and she believes that any sort of dormitories are actually barracks used to house people that are starving. Also, it seems the narrators biggest worry about the SS coming would be that her toys are given to Nellie. Without the level of maturity required to intake such horrible messages, the narrator is truly unable to understand the events that took place in the concentration camps of World War 2.