The ghetto
The ghetto, which sprang up after the rise of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party, is a powerful symbol of the economic situation which plagued Europe and allowed Hitler to gain power. Because of the Treaty of Versailles, which stripped economic power and freedom from Germany and its allied countries, its citizens struggled because they could never get ahead financially.
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud is a powerful symbol of psychiatry and powerful Jewish people, both of which the Nazis hated and fought against heavily. To the Nazis, psychiatry and Freud were representative of the way that Jewish thought influenced society.
Sex work
Sex work, which the Bohemian girl that Franz does for a living, is symbolic of the desperation that many people -- especially women -- felt in order to scrape by and survive because of poor economic conditions. For the Bohemian girl and many other women, sex work is the only way that they could reasonably survive -- even if they didn't like doing it.
Vandalism
An important motif in the novel is vandalism, which Otto's shop (and many other Jewish businesses) have to deal with on countless occasions because of racist German and Austrian people. For example, Rosshuber, the deli owner who used to interact with Otto often, frequently vandalizes Otto's shop because he feels that it is the best and most righteous thing to do. The motif emphasizes the terrible injustices many Jewish people had to deal with before and during World War II and foreshadows the Holocaust.
Gestapo headquarters
The Gestapo headquarters symbolizes the imposing, all-knowing nature of the Nazi government. The Nazis felt that they needed to have a hand in every one of their citizen's life and know everything about them. As such, they created the Gestapo, which ultimately caused tremendous death and destruction.
