Summary

The novel opens as Eva Kluge delivers a letter from the war front to Otto and Anna Quangel at 55 Jablonski Strasse. She first passes the Persicke's apartment, where the family is drinking and celebrating the capitulation of France. She gives a "Heil Hitler" and moves on not wanting to spend any more time with the family who hold various positions within the Nazi Party. The author also introduces readers to Frau Rosenthal, who lives on the fourth floor of the building, by way of Frau Kluge's thoughts about the elderly woman. She does not see why someone such as the kind woman should be treated badly by the Party simply because she is a Jew. At the Quangels' apartment, Eva delivers the letter to an abrupt Otto who, in turn, hands the letter to his wife.

Anna breaks down as she reads...