Point of View

We Were the Lucky Ones is told from the points-of-view of the Kurc siblings, their mother Nechuma, and their spouses. The point-of-view generally alternates in each chapter, though some chapters mix points-of-view from two major characters that are related or in the same place at the same time. This is done to particularly grim effect in Chapter 18 when the author provides both Mila and her two-and-half-year-old daughter Felicia's perspectives. When Nazi police raid the uniform workshop where Mila works, she must hide her daughter in a sack and hope the Nazis do not find her. When she exits the room, the perspective switches to Felicia's as she cowers in terror, trying to weep silently as she wonders “What will they do if they find her?” (139).

The changes in point-of-view allow the reader to see what is happening during World War II in various parts of...