Badenheim 1939: Analysis of Major Characters
"Badenheim 1939" is a poignant exploration of the lives of various characters at a Jewish resort in the days leading up to World War II. The story features Dr. Pappenheim, a positive hotel director who tries to maintain a sense of normalcy despite the impending deportation of the Jewish guests. Trude, the pharmacist's wife, grapples with her fears and hallucinations, while her husband Martin is consumed by anxiety over her health. The characters include Leon Samitzky, a nostalgic musician longing for Poland, and Professor Fussholdt, a historian with deep-seated anti-Semitic views.
Additional figures like Mitzi Fussholdt, who is concerned only with superficialities, and Frau Zauberbilt, a woman clinging to belief in an afterlife, illustrate the diverse emotional responses to their uncertain future. Young lovers Dr. Schutz and his girlfriend navigate their relationship amidst the looming crisis, while Karl, a divorced vacationer, grapples with his own demons. The interactions among these characters reveal a tapestry of fear, hope, and denial, as they await an uncertain fate, providing a complex portrait of human resilience in the face of impending tragedy.
Badenheim 1939: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Aharon Appelfeld
First published: Badenheim, 'ir nofesh, 1975 (English translation, 1980)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Badenheim, Austria
Plot: Parable
Time: 1939
Dr. Pappenheim, a hotel “impresario” and director of the summer festival of performing arts at the Badenheim resort. Encouraging and accommodating, he works very hard at providing the hotel guests with the best entertainment. His attitude is quite positive, and when the Jews face deportation to Poland, he looks forward to a new and exciting life in a new land, feeling that no real life remains in Badenheim.
Trude, the pharmacist's wife. She is a sickly woman who worries constantly that her son-in-law Leopold beats her daughter Helena. Haunted by a hidden fear, she fades into hallucinations about ferocious wolves. Her hallucinations are replaced by childhood memories of Poland, and she believes that all will be well when she, her husband, and her daughter reach Poland.
Martin, the pharmacist. He is a sorrowful man who constantly looks after his sick wife, to the point of ultimately absorbing her sickness. He is forever promising her that all will be well, despite his own anxieties.
Leon Samitzky, a Polish musician who has wonderful memories of his childhood in Poland. He longs to return to his homeland and stirs feelings of melancholy and nostalgia in Dr. Pappenheim with his stories of his childhood. A heavy drinker who is always in debt, he looks forward to deportation to Poland.
Professor Fussholdt, a vacationer at the resort and a famous historian. Hostile to everything Jewish, he denounces such figures as Theodor Herzl and Martin Buber. His entire stay in Badenheim is spent reviewing the proofs for his latest book.
Mitzi Fussholdt, the very young wife of Professor Fussholdt. A vain and unfaithful woman, she is interested only in clothes and cosmetics, and she understands nothing of her husband's work. She is saddened at finding no friends or lovers in Badenheim and develops nightmares as a result of her fear of deportation.
Frau Zauberbilt, an escapee from a nearby sanatorium. She is divorced. She is happy until she falls ill; she then begins to cling to her belief in an afterlife.
Dr. Schutz, a vacationer and mathematician who lives off his mother's money. He is boyish and loved by all. He chases after a young schoolgirl.
A schoolgirl, the delicate, frail girlfriend of Dr. Schutz. She wants him to take her away from Badenheim and becomes pregnant with his child. Once she is pregnant, she rarely speaks to her lover, but she has no fears and no regrets.
Karl, a divorced vacationer who terrorizes people and has a fascination for the fish in the hotel aquarium. Forever thinking about his sons in a military academy, he takes up with a married woman and invites her to go to Poland with him.
Lotte, Karl's girlfriend, who is married to an agent for a large business firm. She is filled with sorrow and feels as if her life is over.
Two poetry readers, identical twins, tall and thin with a monkish look. They carry a dark secret, eat nothing, and go into seclusion. They have a passion for the poet Rainer Maria Rilke.
Princess Milbaum, the patroness of the twins. Tall and elegant, she believes that there is a conspiracy against her because people avoid her. She soon shuts herself into her room, where she writes letters complaining of how the Ostjuden (Eastern European Jews) have spoiled Badenheim. In the end, she is a body without a soul.
Nahum Slotzker, a yanuka, or boy singer, from Poland. Frightened and spoiled, he grows fat at the resort and loses his voice, as well as his innocence.
Salo, a traveling salesman who grew up in Poland and looks forward to going back. Capricious and given to drink, he delights in living off his expense account.
Gertie and Sally, prostitutes of ages forty and forty-two, respectively. Inseparable friends, they are kind and generous. They take care of Nahum.
Peter, the pastry shop owner. Hostile and indignant, he refuses to let Sally and Gertie in his shop. He hates Dr. Pappenheim and most of the hotel guests.
Professor Mandelbaum, a master violinist who is sent to Badenheim because he is a Jew. He forces his trio to practice constantly as they await deportation.
An old rabbi, sick and confined to a wheelchair. He is forever asking questions in a mixture of Yiddish and Hebrew, and his eyes are filled with an ancient grief.
Dr. Langmann, an angry man who denies his Jewishness and dislikes Jews.