Summary
The refugee group arrives at the Prussian estate. In the past the home must have been beautiful. But now the glass doors are shattered and books are strewn across the floor. A half-eaten dinner is rotting on the table.
Florian drags the dead German soldier into the forest and covers his body with snow. In the distance, they see smoke coming from the chimney of the manor house. They decide to check the house to see if it is safe to rest there, but Emilia feels sick and faints.
Joana goes to looks for an oak tree so that she can use its bark to treat blisters. Outside, she hears Florian call for help. They bring Emilia inside and Joana discovers that Emilia is eight months pregnant. Emilia says that she became pregnant at the Kleist’s farm, where her father sent her to safety. She says that she is on her way to meet August, the Kleists' oldest son.
Joana tells Florian that they would be safer traveling together, since the region is surrounded by Russians and they are all heading in the same direction. At night, the refugees share soup and dance to music. As Florian walks across the room, the shoe poet learns something about his secret: he detects that the heel of Florian’s boot is hollow.
When everyone else is asleep, Eva finds all of the former residents of the house dead in their beds. She screams and wakes up the rest of the group. They decide to leave the estate before dawn. Joana bandages Ingrid’s eyes to pretend that she is wounded, since the Nazis will kill her if they discover she is handicapped. Emilia travels in the horse-drawn cart.
As the group returns to the road, they run into a massive procession of people carrying their belongings. Germany has finally issued evacuation orders. The refugees’ plan is to cross the frozen Vistula lagoon to board ships at the ports of Gotenhafen or Pillau. Ingrid and Joana are nervous about crossing the ice. Joana also worries about Emilia, who will soon go into labor and has no identification papers.
Meanwhile, the Gotenhafen port is in imminent danger of attack by Allied planes. In a letter to Hannelore, Alfred confirms that he is assigned to sail on the MV Wilhelm Gustloff. The capacity of the ship is 1,463, but Alfred says they may board as many as 2,000 people.
Analysis
The group of refugees is pleased to find the old Prussian estate, which promises the warmth of thick walls and a fireplace. But while they are able to get some physical rest, they cannot leave the psychological pain of war behind. The house is ravaged, with the families’ belongings scattered and broken. At first glance it is evident that the family was forced to leave their dinner half-eaten on the table. Moreover, the group later learns that the whole family is dead in their beds.
In this block of sections, Sepetys provides important historical context about the relationship between Nazi Germany and the Prussian aristocracy. The Prussian nobles serve in the German Army, fighting for their land and titles. However, their ideologies do not always align with Hitler’s. In July of 1944, some Prussians were involved in an attempt to assassinate Hitler and they were executed.
Sepytys also introduces the theme of honor in relation to the Prussian nobles. Florian, himself Prussian, imagines how the grandfather of the family, upon learning of the Russians’ approach, interrupted dinner and instructed everyone to get into bed. He imagines that the Prussian noble put on his World War I uniform and shot his family members before shooting himself, “taking life yet sparing honor.” The nobles preferred to take their own lives rather than leave their land and be killed by the Russians.
Just as the estate offers some comfort but ultimately contains a terrifying secret, in Salt to the Sea few things are as they appear. Sepetys develops this theme of truth and appearances through Florian’s character. At the Königsberg museum, Florian worked restoring old paintings. He was always able to detect when a painting is fake or has been touched up. However, he was unable to detect the deceitful character of his mentor, Dr. Lange. Similarly, when it comes to art, Florian’s own restoration work always passes undetected. However, the shoe poet is able to detect that Florian has altered the heel of his boot. While Florian can hide his restoration work on paintings, he cannot hide his character. Again, shoes reveal the truth, in this case that Florian is hiding something.
Even so, in the context of Nazi Germany, telling the truth is not always the right thing to do. Sometimes the characters must lie in order to do what is right or to save their lives. For example, to save her life Ingrid must pretend that her eyes are injured rather than revealing that she is blind.
The novel heavily foreshadows the nature of Florian’s mission, and the reader is left to wonder about his character. On the one hand, Florian seems noble and Emilia thinks of him as a savior and a knight. On the other hand, Ingrid calls him a thief and Eva calls him a spy.
As the group encounters the massive procession of refugees, they begin to come to terms with the fact that Germany is losing the war and that they will likely never see their homes again. Despite all of the tragedy around them, the refugees are able to find a little bit of hope in unlikely places. The character of Klaus, the young boy they find on the side of the road, often represents this hope. From the terror and tragedy of the Prussian family’s death, Klaus rescues a stuffed bunny rabbit with one ear missing. Even though the bunny is damaged, Klaus holds it close to him, determined to find some love and comfort in the face of war.
