Sarah’s Key

“If they are French, they will not harm us.”

Not only does Sarah believe this to be true, but many of the other people in Paris believe it as well. This phrase was used as an excuse as to why people did not stop the police. They never imagined that their own people could be capable of such an atrocity. 

“I’ll come back for you later. I promise.” 

This is the promise that Sarah makes to Michel, before she is taken with her mother and father from their apartment. While being moved about and kept as a prisoner, Sarah remains focused on this promise. She does finally manage to return to her brother, but she is too late. 

“She pronounced their names with an expression of distaste […] as if she was saying a swearword, one of those dirty words you were never supposed to utter.” 

The concierge represents a portion of the Parisian population that had deep anti-Semitic feelings. France experienced some of the same hatreds that the Germans experienced during the war.