Salt to the Sea

These pages contain 12 short sections, beginning with Florian’s.

At sunrise, the group joins “a massive procession of people and carts…as far as the eye can see” (98). While Joana attempts to help the injured, Eva investigates the crowd. Joana devises a plan to masquerade young Emilia as the dead Latvian woman whose papers she holds. Florian utilizes the SS courier pass he forged to impress the checkpoint guard but resists claiming association with the others. Before they can proceed, a plane appears, and “a cluster of human beings…exploded with a bomb” (109).

In a harrowing scene, Ingrid, who has bandaged her eyes to appear injured, pretends to see a soldier’s scarf to avoid arrest. The resourceful shoe poet masterfully distracts the young Nazi at the checkpoint by offering to repair his shoes. In Gotenhafen, Alfred continues to weave tails of grandeur in letters to Hannelore while stripping the ship of furniture and décor in preparation for the voyage. Joana discovers that the drawing from her cousin is missing from her suitcase.

Florian sneaks away from the group and hides behind the organ pipes in a nearby cathedral, where the others eventually congregate to sleep while the lagoon freezes. Florian privately admires what he has been keeping secret: a tiny swan, the “Fuhrer’s most favorite” treasure from the precious Amber Room, “a glittering chamber of amber, jewels, gold, and mirrors,” that the Nazis stole from Leningrad in 1941 (125).

These pages contain 13 short sections, beginning with Emilia’s.

The shoe poet awakens the group to cross the lagoon. Florian remains hidden but watching. Joana devises a clever story for Emilia’s identity. Ingrid, who claims she “can truly feel the ice” if she is alone, insists that she lead the group across the frozen, blood-stained lagoon (130). Suddenly, Russian planes release a shower of bullets, firing holes in the ice. Ingrid is shot and falls into the freezing water while the others scatter. Florian heroically appears to save Joana from the cracking ice as she attempts to rescue Ingrid.

The traumatized group retreats to the bank. The little boy cries, “Make it stop. No more,” and a distraught Joana sobs (133). Florian is unable to embrace Joana. Emilia gently lifts his arms and places them around her (134). After several hours, the group makes the long trek across the fragile lagoon, though no one celebrates their safe arrival on the peninsula.

Joana and Emilia pressure Florian to tell the checkpoint guard the group belongs with him. Florian uses his forged status to arrange for a boat to Gotenhafen. Much to his chagrin, the group follows him to the dock after they arrange for other evacuees to take their cart and belongings to the port.

Joana observes, “Nothing could have prepared us for what we found” in Gotenhafen (152). Wandering farm animals and distraught refugees fill the snow-covered streets, seeking food and shelter. Even self-assured Florian is overwhelmed. After an unexpected encounter with a woman pushing a goat in a baby carriage, the group bonds over an inside joke. Florian’s unexpected and brilliant smile devastates. The group heads to a movie theater to sleep.

These pages comprise 12 short sections, beginning with Florian’s.

The heightened military presence in Gotenhafen unnerves Florian. The German military’s systems are “meticulous” and include ruthless tactics for identifying and sorting the various groups of refugees (157). Florian fears his forged documents will fail inspection by high-level officials. Preoccupation with his own survival is eclipsed by concern for others. He reflects, “The feeling of desperation was so physically present I could have shoveled it off the dock” (157).

A letter from Alfred’s “mutter” (mother) reveals that he has a secret butterfly collection in his room and that he and Hannelore are not even friends, let alone romantically involved. Alfred responds cruelly and dismisses her. The resourceful and resilient shoe poet trades a pair of scavenged boots for a pot of warm porridge.

At the theater, Joana and Florian get closer while Emilia deals with labor pains. Florian tells Joana about his concealed injury—he is deaf in one ear from an explosion—and asks her to claim him as her patient to avoid being recruited for duty. Joana admits doing “something stupid”—she left a note for the family in the mansion signed with her full name because she felt guilty taking their sewing kit without asking. She fears she will be implicated in their death.

At the docks the next day, Joana approaches Alfred, who is rifling through abandoned luggage and stealing a crystal butterfly. Florian describes him as a “first-class booby” (177). Eva implores Joana to abandon the group when Alfred recruits her to assist the doctor on the Gustloff. Instead, Joana convinces Alfred to register everyone for the voyage in exchange for her assistance. Observing wily Alfred in action, Eva remarks, “Is he the best that’s left? I’m sorry, but I’m not putting my future in the hands of this heavy breather” (177).

While Joana remains on the docks to determine which wounded soldiers are fit for the voyage, the others make their way to registration with Alfred, who is pleased with himself for finding a capable nurse so quickly. Florian is thrilled he has encountered such an easily manipulated soldier to enact his plan. He convinces Alfred that he is on a secret mission and arranges for Alfred to bring him one of the boarding passes he has “taken as mementos of course” (186).