Essay Questions

War effects adults and children very differently. In what way was Zlata impacted differently than her parents?

Although the entire family's living conditions were deplorable, and their lives turned upside-down at the same time, Zlata's life in particular was devastated as the war effectively ended her childhood. Zlata, although growing up and beginning to become interested in the usual teen things - music, fashion, super models - was still aware of the fact she was a child, and seemed to rather enjoy this. She did not seem overly anxious to rush through her childhood and become an adult and took pleasure in being with her friends, activities in the park and family vacations. All of these things stopped once the war started. Not only was Zlata's childhood brought to an abrupt halt, but the memory of it was also destroyed, making Zlata feel as though it had never really happened at all; the park was decimated, and her favorite trees uprooted and dead. One of her friends was killed during a bombing raid on the park, taking away her happy associations with it and leaving only the feeling of sadness and loss. Similarly the family's summer home was destroyed and the memories of times spent there dulled somewhat by its destruction. Zlata was also forced to take on a different role in the family; where as a child she previously relied on her parents for reassurance that everything would be alright, they now seemed to rely on her, and needed her to be strong in order to carry on themselves. This affected Zlata because it was a role reversal that would not have happened had it not been for the war.

Zlata is often compared to Anne Frank. How were they similar, and how were they also different?

The comparison between Zlata and Anne Frank is most often made because of their basic situations; both were young girls, from loving families who chose to stay together during a time of danger and war rather than separating with some family members fleeing to safety and some being left behind. They both had to hide from the dangers outside in cramped, uncomfortable conditions, both had to stop going to school (loved by both) and of course, both kept a journal or diary with which they confided about their situation. Zlata herself told her own diary that she was giving it a name after reading that Anne Frank had called her own diary "Kitty".

The girls also have many differences, the chief one of which was that it did not really matter if authorities knew if Zlata's family were there or not; they were not hiding from their neighbors, quite the opposite, as the neighbors supported each other from an enemy coming from outside. The Frank family, being Jewish, were in fear of even the neighbors they thought of as friends as there was always a danger someone would tell the Germans they were hiding in the attic, giving away their position and ultimately causing their death in the Nazi camps. Zlata's situation was different in that this was not happening and the danger was more from missiles and bombs, and also from disease picked up from dirty water, than from people and their possible betrayal.

Zlata, as a child, has a very logical view of the war and its causes. What are some of these and do you think her views are right?

Zlata had a basic view of the war that did not involve bringing into play different factions, negotiations, or reasons. She realized that the people causing the war were not representing the people at all, but only representing themselves and their own egotistical ambitions to preside over larger regions than they did already. She believed that they were perfectly capable of bringing about peace, but were choosing not to. She also did not really understand the way in which they wanted to divide everyone on ethnic grounds; she noted that the majority of people seem to get along quite nicely despite ethnic or religious backgrounds that were different. They did not start to dislike or threaten each other until their politicians told them that they should. Zlata believed that, far from trying to create a better country or region, the politicians were doing the opposite, and that they were destroying so much of the country that there would not be anything left to preside over at all if the war went on much longer. She viewed politicians as people who made empty promises and in the case of the leaders of the conflict she bore witness to, it would be difficult to argue with her observation.