During the Holocaust, it was incredibly dangerous to practice Judaism. Jewish people went into hiding. To protect their children, young Jewish children, hidden by their parents, were placed in monasteries as orphans. But, harboring a Jewish child is a serious crime. People were killed and publically executed as an example to others to not hide another Jewish child or children.
In Aharon Appelfeld's short story called "Kitty," he describes the life of a hidden Jewish girl in a convent named Kitty. He uses her and the people around her to symbolize religious figures found in Christianity.
Maria, a sister in the convent, is the mother figure to Kitty. Her name is the same name as the mother of Jesus which further shows her motherly connection with Kitty. Like a mother, she refused to give up on Kitty even when Kitty did not show any improvement in her French.
When Appelfeld states, "she wanted to protect her in the shade of prayer and holy studies, to have her become a nun, but not because of external pressures; to plant her in the realm of eternal silence" (Appelfeld 136). All she wanted is for Kitty to be safe from the outside world. Even if it was dangerous to harbor a Jewish girl in the convent, she wanted to protect her regardless if it meant her life because she became a second mother to Kitty.
The Abbess is the paternal figure to Kitty. She is the head nun and a cold, authoritative figure within the convent. But, she does have a weak spot towards Kitty. The Abbess is the one who had given Maria permission to hide Kitty. Unlike her cold appearance, she wants to protect her just like a father would for his child because Kitty is a child of God. She, also, wishes to save her soul by having her convert to Christianity and her physical body, so the Nazis would not kill her.
Peppi symbolizes reality or otherwise seen as the mortal world outside the walls of the convent. Appelfeld describes her as "heavily built, rather masculine-looking woman, who had apparently had a rather difficult life" (Appelfeld 137).
She is the opposite of Kitty. Peppi is not naive about the world around her and is not afraid of manipulating someone to feed her human ambitions. For example, she befriends Kitty so she can steal the gold lamp from the convent. This case proves how Peppi is the embodiment of earthly desires through her relationship with Kitty.
Not every Jewish child survived the Holocaust, and Kitty is one of these victims. Unfortunately, numerous of innocent children slain because of the malicious objectives by Nazi Germany. However, even though the ending is bittersweet, Appelfeld uses Kitty's death to show that these kids that got killed are going into God's arms. All the pain and suffering they have gone through after being torn from their earthly parents, they will return to their heavenly father and live an eternal life in his kingdom.
