Someone Named Eva

Eva has been at the facility for seven months. Her friend Liesel gets into an argument with another girl. The girl reiterates Fräulein Krüger’s rationale and maintains that Liesel was sent to the facility because Liesel’s mother couldn’t afford her. Liesel refuses to believe Fräulein Krüger’s story. Eva chimes in, saying that she remembers her mother too, even though Fräulein Krüger contends that Eva’s parents died in an Allied air raid. Franziska glares at Eva and tells her that both of their parents died in the air raid, but Eva remembers when the Nazis came and took her.

That night, Eva realizes that she cannot remember her Czech name. She feels like she has broken her promise to her grandmother to remember who she is and where she comes from. Many weeks later, Babichka’s pin unclasps and stabs Eva, waking her. Eva decides to sneak outside and look at the stars. She sees many shooting stars and takes it as a sign from her grandmother. She can suddenly remember Babichka singing a lullaby with her name, Milada, in it. Remembering her Czech name allows Eva to bear the monotony of life at the facility. She still believes she will return to her home and family.

The health teacher brings a mirror into class one day. None of the girls have seen their reflections since being brought to the facility. Eva doesn’t recognize herself and says, “the person in the mirror looked less like a little girl and more like a young woman” (54). Eva takes note of her light hair and eyes, features she never paid attention to before, because they mark her as a future German citizen.

Another night, Eva begins singing the Czech national anthem in her sleep before Liesel wakes her. Eva then takes Liesel outside to see the stars, and they sneak into a small chapel. Liesel tells Eva that her real name is Katarzyna, and Eva says that her real name is Milada. Eva shows Liesel the garnet pin, and they promise each other that they will only use their real names when they enter this chapel.

While Eva and Liesel become friends, Franziska grows closer to another girl named Siegrid. Franziska and Siegrid are model students and model German citizens, praised by the teachers. They use this power to humiliate girls who are struggling with their lessons and those who are too afraid to challenge them. Eva and Liesel continue to visit the little chapel where they call each other their real names. They share stories about life before the facility, and the visits keep each of them hopeful.

One morning, the girls receive formal uniforms and pocket money, and they are taken into the city of Puschkau. The girls are excited to get out of the facility and talk about what they will spend their money on. While at a candy store, Eva sees an old woman through the window and thinks she is Babichka. Eva goes to the woman, but the woman spits on Eva, calling her a Nazi and “evil child.” Fräulein Krüger beats the woman, and the girls try to comfort Eva. Franziska tells Eva that they are Nazis, even when Eva claims she is not. After this incident, Eva feels distant from the other girls and tries to remember who she is by repeating her Czech name to herself.

The girls’ routine is interrupted again, and the soldiers take them to the small chapel Eva and Liesel visit at night. There are two male Nazi soldiers the girls have never seen before. Fräulein Krüger tells the girls that they have completed their training to become model German girls and are ready to be adopted into their German families. Eva faints and wakes up to two strangers, Frau and Herr Werner, her new German parents.

The Werners live in a massive white house in Fürstenberg, Germany. They have a 14-year-old daughter named Elsbeth and an eight-year-old son named Peter. Eva notices a strange smell in the house, which Frau Werner dismisses, calling it the “cost of war” (69).

Frau Werner shows Eva to her bedroom, a lavish pink room she has all to herself. Eva is struck by the lace curtains, the soft, clean sheets, and the lace detail on her nightgown. Frau Werner comes in to say goodnight and holds Eva as Eva begins to cry. Eva is conflicted. She knows that this is not her mother, family, nor home, yet she feels safe in Frau Werner’s embrace. For the first time, Eva begins to wonder if her family will ever come for her.