Jacob

The titular protagonist of Jacob the Liar, Jacob is the center of the book’s narrative because he tells the lies which keep the ghetto’s inhabitants alive. Jacob is in his 50s and used to be the owner of a small eatery which sold potato pancakes and ice cream before the war. Jacob is a deeply anxious and observant character, traits which the reader later learns are key aspects of his personality even before the war. This consciousness helps him survive in the unpredictable and violent world of ghetto life and arbitrary Nazi law.

His story begins when he is taken into Nazi military barracks where he heard on the radio that the Russians are defeating the Germans in a town about two-hundred miles from the ghetto he lives in. Since Jews are not permitted to own radios, this is the only news about the outside world...