Vienna's Ferris Wheel Promise

In 1936 Vienna, three inseparable children—Leo, Elsa, and Max—celebrate Leo's ninth birthday with a ride on the Riesenrad Ferris wheel. Their laughter, the city spread beneath them, and a photograph taken by Leo's father capture a moment of pure joy and unity. A chance encounter with an English couple, the Stewarts, seems trivial but will later prove pivotal. The trio's bond feels unbreakable, their world safe and full of promise, as they pledge to remember this day forever. Yet, beneath the surface, subtle tensions and adult anxieties hint at the storm to come.

Fractures and Farewells

As the political climate darkens, Elsa's family, sensing the rising danger for Jews, decides to leave Vienna for Prague. The children's confusion and heartbreak are palpable; Max, in denial, tries to joke away the threat, while Leo senses the gravity. Their last meeting is tinged with sorrow and a desperate kiss between Max and Elsa. Max's father forbids him from seeing his Jewish friends, and the trio is torn apart, their childhood innocence shattered by forces beyond their control.

Shadows Over Friendship

The Anschluss brings Nazi rule to Austria, and Leo and other Jewish students are publicly humiliated and segregated at school. Max, caught between loyalty and fear, distances himself from Leo, mirroring the wider betrayal of neighbors and friends. Leo witnesses his beloved father, once the life of every gathering, being degraded in the street by former friends, including Max's father, now a Nazi. The city that was once theirs becomes hostile and alien.

The Rise of Hatred

Max's family moves to Munich, where he is swept up in the Hitler Youth, finding belonging and approval he never felt before. The price is the suppression of his doubts and the erasure of his past friendships. Elsa, in Prague, finds brief happiness but is soon caught in the tightening grip of anti-Jewish laws. Leo and his mother, increasingly isolated in Vienna, face daily humiliations and the loss of their home and community. The photograph from the Ferris wheel becomes a secret talisman of better times.

Three Paths Diverge

Leo and his mother, with the help of the Stewarts, manage a perilous escape to England, enduring suspicion and hardship but ultimately finding safety. Elsa's family's attempt to send her and her brother to safety is thwarted by the outbreak of war, trapping them in Nazi-occupied Prague. Max, now fully indoctrinated, excels in the Hitler Youth, his identity increasingly bound to the regime. Each child's path is shaped by the choices and chances of adults, and by the relentless advance of history.

Exile and Assimilation

In England, Leo struggles to fit in, bullied for his accent and suspected as an enemy. Only when he finds another Jewish friend does he begin to reclaim a sense of belonging. Elsa, forced into the Prague ghetto, clings to friendship with Greta and the memory of her lost friends. Max, in Munich, suppresses all memory of Leo and Elsa, burning their letters and photograph to prove his loyalty. The children's worlds have shrunk, but the memory of their shared past endures.

The Machinery of Exclusion

Elsa's family is forced from their home into the ghetto, then onto a transport to Theresienstadt, and finally to Auschwitz. Each move strips away more of their dignity and hope. Leo, in England, receives a coded letter from his father in Dachau, realizing the truth of the camps. Max, now a young SS recruit, is posted to Auschwitz, his humanity buried beneath layers of obedience and denial. The machinery of the Holocaust grinds on, indifferent to individual suffering.

The Cost of Belonging

Max, desperate for his father's approval, participates in Nazi brutality, even as flickers of doubt and memory haunt him. He is given a pistol and the chance to prove himself as a true Nazi. Elsa, in Auschwitz, survives by luck, the kindness of others, and the memory of her friends. Greta, her last anchor, is executed after a failed escape attempt, leaving Elsa utterly alone. The cost of survival is the loss of self, the cost of belonging is the betrayal of all that once mattered.

Ghetto Walls Close In

Elsa's family is separated upon arrival at Auschwitz; her mother, father, and brother sent to their deaths, Elsa spared only by a lie about her age. She is stripped of her identity, her hair, her name, and reduced to a number. The photograph, sewn into her dress, is her only link to her past. Leo's father, a prisoner in the camp, risks everything to return the photograph to Elsa, a final act of love and remembrance.

Hope, Letters, and Loss

Throughout their ordeals, letters—real and imagined—carry hope and heartbreak. Leo's coded messages from his father, Elsa's secret notes from her brother, and the lost correspondence between Leo and Max are lifelines in a world of silence. The photograph, passed from hand to hand, becomes a symbol of all that was lost and all that endures. In England, Leo finds love and a new sense of home, but the ache of absence never leaves him.

The Abyss of Auschwitz

Elsa, accused of complicity in an escape plot, is dragged to the execution yard. Max, now a guard, is ordered to shoot her as a test of his loyalty. In a moment of recognition, the past floods back: the Ferris wheel, the promise, the friendship. Elsa pleads with Max, showing him the photograph. For a moment, it seems he might choose mercy, but the pressure of the regime and his own self-loathing overwhelm him. In the chaos, Max is shot by another guard, and Elsa is executed.

Choices at the Edge

Max's final moments are a maelstrom of regret and realization. He sees, too late, the monstrous path he has taken, the cost of his choices, and the love he betrayed. Elsa, in her last seconds, finds a strange peace, knowing she is seen and remembered. The photograph falls to the ground, a silent witness to all that was and all that might have been.

The Photograph's Last Light

Leo's father, a camp prisoner, finds the photograph beside Elsa's body. He recognizes the children, the day, the promise. In an act of quiet rebellion, he keeps the photograph, a fragment of hope and humanity amid the ashes. After the war, he returns it to Leo, who mourns his friends and says Kaddish for them, honoring their memory and the world they lost.

Survival and Return

Leo's father miraculously survives and is reunited with his family in England. The scars of the past are deep, but together they begin to heal. Leo finds love and builds a new life, but the memory of Elsa and Max, and the millions who did not return, is ever-present. The photograph, battered but intact, is a testament to survival, loss, and the enduring power of memory.

Memory's Burden

Decades later, Leo, now an old man, is visited by a teacher seeking to understand the Holocaust. He reflects on the burden of memory, the randomness of survival, and the responsibility to bear witness. The photograph of three children, once kings and queen of Vienna, sits at the center of his life, a reminder of innocence lost and the necessity of remembrance.

Passing the Baton

Leo agrees to share his story, on the condition that it be carried forward as a warning and a call to action. The baton of memory is passed to a new generation, with the hope that the world will not turn away again. The story ends where it began: with a promise, a photograph, and the belief that even in the darkest times, the act of remembering is an act of resistance.

Characters

Leo Grunberg

Leo is the emotional heart of the story—a sensitive, artistic Jewish boy whose life is upended by the rise of Nazism. His deep loyalty to his friends, especially Elsa, and his close bond with his loving parents, shape his resilience. Leo's journey from Vienna to England is marked by trauma, loss, and the constant ache of separation. He is haunted by survivor's guilt and the memory of those left behind, but ultimately finds a measure of healing in love and the act of remembrance. Leo's development is a testament to the endurance of empathy and the importance of bearing witness.

Elsa Bauer

Elsa is imaginative, fair-minded, and fiercely loyal. Her family's early flight to Prague is an act of foresight, but cannot save them from the machinery of the Holocaust. Elsa's friendship with Greta and her devotion to her family sustain her through the ghetto, Theresienstadt, and Auschwitz. The photograph of her and her friends is her last link to hope. Even as she is stripped of everything, Elsa's spirit endures, and her final act—reaching out to Max—embodies both the tragedy and the possibility of human connection in extremity.

Max Fischer

Max's journey is the most psychologically complex. Once a lonely child desperate for approval, he is seduced by the belonging and power offered by Nazism. His need to please his authoritarian father and to fit in leads him to betray his friends and his own conscience. Max's story is a chilling exploration of how ordinary people become complicit in evil. In his final moments, confronted by Elsa and the memory of their shared past, Max is forced to reckon with what he has become. His arc is a warning about the dangers of conformity and the seduction of hate.

Frank Grunberg (Leo's Father)

Frank is a beloved figure in his community, known for his warmth and humor. The Nazi takeover strips him of his dignity, livelihood, and eventually his freedom. His coded letters and final acts of kindness—especially returning the photograph—show his enduring love and courage. His survival and reunion with Leo are bittersweet, marked by the scars of all he has lost.

Annie

A Jewish refugee in England, Annie becomes Leo's girlfriend and later his wife. Her presence helps Leo heal and build a new life, but she also represents the millions of children separated from their families. Annie's warmth and resilience are a quiet counterpoint to the story's tragedies.

Greta

Greta is Elsa's closest friend in Prague and later in the camps. Her humor, courage, and resourcefulness help Elsa survive. Greta's death during a failed escape attempt is a devastating blow, symbolizing the loss of hope and the cost of resistance.

Stella and Ernst Bauer (Elsa's Parents)

Elsa's parents do everything they can to protect their children, from fleeing Vienna to attempting to send them to safety. Their forced separation and deaths in Auschwitz are emblematic of the fate of countless Jewish families.

Hermann Fischer (Max's Father)

Max's father is a harsh, ambitious man whose approval Max craves. His rise through the Nazi ranks and his indoctrination of Max illustrate how family dynamics and societal pressures can warp morality. He is both a product and a perpetrator of the regime's evil.

The Stewarts

The English couple Leo's family meets by chance in Vienna become their sponsors, enabling their escape. Their generosity, sparked by a trivial encounter, is a reminder of the profound impact of small acts of kindness.

Kizzy and Mairik

Fellow outcasts on Leo's escape train, Kizzy and Mairik represent the broader scope of Nazi persecution. Their brief friendship with Leo and his mother highlights solidarity among the oppressed.

Plot Devices

The Photograph

The photograph taken on the Ferris wheel is the central symbol and plot device. It encapsulates the innocence and unity of the three friends before the world changed. Passed from hand to hand, hidden, lost, and finally returned, it is a tangible link to the past and a silent witness to all that is lost and all that endures. Its presence at key moments—Elsa's execution, Leo's reunion with his father—underscores the power of memory and the tragedy of what was destroyed.

Multiple Perspectives

The novel alternates between Leo, Elsa, and Max, allowing readers to experience the Holocaust from the perspectives of victim, survivor, and perpetrator. This structure deepens empathy and complicates moral judgments, showing how history fractures even the closest bonds.

Foreshadowing and Irony

Early scenes of joy and unity are laced with hints of the coming catastrophe. The children's promises, the adults' anxious whispers, and the seemingly trivial encounter with the Stewarts all gain tragic weight in retrospect. The irony of Max's longing for belonging, fulfilled only through complicity in evil, is especially poignant.

Letters and Codes

Letters—coded, lost, or destroyed—are lifelines and sources of heartbreak. They reveal the limits of communication under tyranny and the desperate need to connect across impossible distances.

The Test

Key moments—Max's order to shoot Elsa, Elsa's decision to lie about her age, Leo's plea to his mother to keep trying—are framed as tests of character. The outcomes are shaped by fear, love, and the weight of history, showing how ordinary people are forced into impossible choices.

Analysis

When the World Was Ours is a searing exploration of innocence lost, the corrosive power of hate, and the fragile, enduring strength of human connection. By tracing the diverging paths of three childhood friends—one a victim, one a survivor, one a perpetrator—Liz Kessler personalizes the vast tragedy of the Holocaust, showing how ideology and circumstance can warp or redeem the human soul. The novel's central image—a photograph of three children on the cusp of catastrophe—serves as both a memorial and a warning. Kessler's message is clear: history is shaped by the choices of ordinary people, and the line between bystander, victim, and perpetrator is perilously thin. The story insists on the necessity of remembrance, the moral imperative to resist injustice, and the hope that even in the darkest times, acts of kindness and memory can light the way forward. In a world still threatened by prejudice and indifference, the baton of witness must be passed on, and the promise of "never again" renewed by each generation.

Last updated: May 22, 2025