Joana Vilkas
One of four narrators, Joana is a kind and highly skilled nurse. She fled her home country of Lithuania with her family in 1941. Because her mother’s family has German roots, the Nazis allowed her to repatriate to Germany, and she went to work as a surgeon’s assistant in East Prussia. She does her very best to always help others, mainly with her skills in nursing. She also feels enormous guilt for leaving her family behind and probably leading to the death of her cousin and best friend, Lina.
Florian Beck
One of four narrators, Florian is a talented young restoration artist from East Prussia. He worked for the Nazis restoring European paintings. When he realizes the Nazis stole the art, he decides to take revenge by stealing the amber swan, Hitler's favorite piece from the Amber Room. Florian acts deceitfully and believes he is on a mission with this stolen piece of art. Later in the book, he shows himself as a kindhearted person and realizes that his act of revenge was pointless.
Emilia Stozek
One of the four narrators, Emilia is a fifteen-year-old girl from Lwów, in southeastern Poland. Emilia’s father sent her to safety to the Kleist’s farm in East Prussia. There she became pregnant when Russian soldiers raped her. Emilia is a highly perceptive, intuitive young woman who feels deeply connected to nature.
Alfred Frick
One of the four narrators, Alfred is an unpopular German sailor assigned to the port of Gotenhafen. He is selfish and his hands are covered with crusty, red blisters. He subscribes to Hitler’s racist ideology and is very concerned with proving that he is a hero. Throughout the novel, he composes letters to his former neighbor and love interest, Hannelore, whom he himself reported to the Nazis for being Jewish.
Heinz
Heinz is also known as the “shoe poet,” or simply, “poet.” He is an old German shoemaker. He talks with great love and emotion about shoes, which he believes are the key to health and always tell the true story about someone. Heinz is kind and caring, and he becomes a grandfather figure to Klaus.
Eva
Eva is an exceptionally tall German woman in her 50s. She is also known as “Sorry Eva” because she often says appalling things but adds an apology before or after her statement. Eva looks out for herself and is suspicious of Florian and Emilia. Eva separates from the group to find her precious belongings, and she ends up boarding the Hansa ship.
Klaus
Also known as “the wandering boy,” Klaus is a six-year-old boy German boy who joins the group of refugees after his grandmother dies. He becomes attached to Heinz, whom he follows around and calls grandfather.
Hannelore Jäger
Hannelore is Alfred’s neighbor and love interest back home in Heidelberg. She only appears in the novel through the letters that Alfred composes to her. Hannelore is half Jewish, a fact that Alfred reveals to the Hitler Youth after she rejects him. When the Hitler Youth take Hannelore away, Alfred insists that she is half-Aryan, but Hannelore defends her Jewish identity.
Anni Beck
Anni is Florian’s younger sister. Florian's father sent Anni up north near the Danish border. Florian hasn’t heard from her in three years and is trying to reunite with her.
August Kleist
August is the eldest child of the Kleist family, which took Emilia in on their farm in East Prussia. When he visits home he defends Emilia from his mother's cruel treatment. Emilia likes August. When Russian soldiers rape and impregnate her, she invents a story to make it easier to deal with. She says the baby is August's and that she is on her way to meet him.
Martin Kleist
A friend of Emilia’s father, Martin Kleist owns a farm near Nemmersdorf, in East Prussia. The Kleist family takes Emilia in during the war and Martin promises Emilia’s father that they’ll take care of her.
Erna Kleist
The mother of the Kleist family. Erna subscribes to Hitler’s racist ideology. She is cruel to Emilia and views her as inferior for being Polish. When Russian soldiers come to the farm, she offers them Emilia in order to protect her daughter Else.
Else Kleist
The Kleist’s daughter. When Russian soldiers come to the Kleist’s farm, they ask for Else. However, Erna Kleist offers them Emilia instead.
Dr. Richter
The doctor aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff. When he learns Joana is a nurse, he asks for her help and secures her a boarding pass.
Halinka
Emilia’s baby. Halinka was conceived when Russian soldiers raped Emilia on the Kleist’s farm. Emilia names her baby Halinka after her mother’s nickname. At the end of the novel, we learn that Halinka has become a young American swimmer who wants to compete in the summer games, but her nationality is in question because she was born on a ship.
Clara and Niels Christensen
A couple that lives near Bornholm, Denmark, an island in the Baltic Sea. One day, a raft bearing Emilia’s body and Florian’s pack floats up to the shore behind their home. They bury Emilia by a bed of roses and bury the contents of Florian’s pack. Gradually, they put the pieces of the story together and Clara contacts Florian in the United States.
