Milkweed characters

Also known as Stopthief

Appears from the start

A small, nameless boy surviving on the streets of Warsaw by taking food and running. He knows almost nothing about his past or the world beyond immediate sights and needs, and he initially understands himself through the names other people shout at him.

Appears from the start

An older red-haired street boy who catches the nameless child after a theft. Quick, commanding, and far more aware of the danger around them, he takes charge of the younger boy and brings him among other homeless children.

First appears in chapter 4

One of the orphan boys in Uri's group, which shelters together and survives by stealing. He is wary of the strange newcomer and participates in the group's rough efforts to test and teach him.

First appears in chapter 4

A member of Uri's band of homeless boys. Like the others, he relies on the group for protection and food amid the invasion and treats survival knowledge as more useful than the newcomer's questions.

First appears in chapter 4

One of the street children living under Uri's informal leadership in wartime Warsaw. He shares the boys' hiding place and their dangerous routine of finding food.

First appears in chapter 4

A boy in Uri's group of young thieves and refugees. His place among them makes him part of the nameless child's first remembered community.

First appears in chapter 4

A large boy in the band of homeless children who shelter together. His simple descriptive nickname is typical of the identities the boys use among themselves.

First appears in chapter 8

A small, determined Jewish girl from a Warsaw family. Curious about the street boy who appears near her home, she can be imperious and bold, and she refuses to remain merely an observer of his freedom.

First appears in chapter 12

Janina's father, a Jewish man trying to keep his family together as German restrictions tighten. He responds to the street boy with patience and gives him a place within the family's increasingly precarious life.

First appears in chapter 12

Janina's mother, whose declining health adds to the Milgrom family's vulnerability. She lives with her family under the restrictions imposed on Warsaw's Jews.

First appears in chapter 12

A relative living with the Milgrom family. Anxious to find a rule or identity that will protect him, he follows rumors about how one might escape the persecution aimed at Jews.

First appears in chapter 30

A large German guard feared by children in the ghetto for his violence. His presence near the wall makes even the routines of smuggling food more dangerous.

Also known as Doctor Korczak

First appears in chapter 42

The adult who cares for a group of Jewish orphans in the ghetto. He remains responsible for the children as conditions worsen and the occupation closes around them.

First appears in chapter 44

A woman Misha meets years after the war in America. She is drawn to the ceaseless stories of the street seller who calls himself Jack and briefly offers him an ordinary adult life.

First appears in chapter 45

The grown daughter who comes into Misha's life after many years of separation. Her arrival gives him a living connection to a family he did not know and a chance to be known outside his wartime memories.

First appears in chapter 45

Katherine's young daughter and Misha's granddaughter. She gives the aging survivor an affectionate family name and listens without demanding that his memories follow an orderly form.