The Goddess of Warsaw

“Resist, not write. Resist, not sit and wait. Let me handle this matter so that maybe some of us can escape and live to tell our stories. Not die with our stories buried in some secret underground time capsule.”

Bina is determined to actively contribute to the resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto, opposing her husband Jakub’s more passive method of documentation. Bina’s disdain for Jakub’s approach lies in her belief that one must survive in order to resist; she does not yet see that Jakub’s form of resistance does ensure survival of some kind, even if not of the physical body. She later comes to see the importance of documentation and even ends up using it herself, as Lena Browning, to tell her story. Documentation thus becomes a key motif in the text.

“Funny, how war both entraps and frees you. What’s the point of niceties, manners, morals, and suppressed emotion when you could die at any given moment?”

Bina reflects on how the war has both entrapped her and freed her at the same time. She has lost her family, freedom, and security, but in the face of constant danger and imminent death, she also does not feel bound by social mores and niceties anymore. This highlights both the extreme circumstances that Bina is facing and how it can push people to do things they wouldn’t otherwise. It also emphasizes Bina’s cool-headed, practical nature, which contrasts with Jakub’s morally upright sentimentality.

“For the first time in months, I feel something akin to peace as the cold air from the open window wafts over me […] I understand now to the depths of my soul the dark, exquisite beauty of survival, the saccharine glow illuminating revenge.”

Bina carries out her first assignment for Zelda and the ZOB by assassinating Kapitan and feels an unprecedented sense of peace. Although it is the first time she has killed someone, Bina does not feel conflicted about the violence she has enacted. Her response foreshadows how The Conflation of Justice and Revenge will become an integral part of her story. It also contextualizes her comfort with the additional violence that she continues to enact throughout her life in the name of justice.

“‘We will never be free,’ he says, as though reading my thoughts. ‘Even if we survive somehow. You get that, right? We have seen too much. We will never unsee what they’ve done to us.’”

Aleksander tells Bina that they will never be able to leave the war behind. This passage speaks to the long-lasting trauma that war inflicts upon many of the characters, foreshadowing the ways in which memories of the war will continue to motivate Bina throughout the rest of the novel.

“‘Revenge is redemption.’ He whispers Zelda’s motto with a fight gesture. ‘That’s all we’ve got left.’”

Aleksander repeats Zelda’s motto to Bina. Once again, in an instance of irony, it is Bina who carries this to heart for the rest of her life. Zelda’s motto speaks to The Conflation of Justice and Revenge, casting acts of revenge in a redemptive light and imbuing it with wider emotional meaning. The motto also speaks to Zelda, Aleksander, and Bina’s belief in armed resistance as a means of resisting oppression.

“I begrudge his one pain, one loss, when mine are so numerous and unending. Yes, he has suffered, but not in the way we have suffered. And yet, I remind myself, he’s here helping us.”

As Stach details Mateusz’s death and how it affected him, Bina cannot help but think about everything she has endured. Bina’s response to Stach’s account underlines how, despite the ultimate impact of his actions, his motivation to act stems from a personal desire for revenge: He only founded Żegota after Mateusz’s death, despite Bina and countless others having suffered before this point. However, Bina is grateful for his help, nevertheless, displaying how the larger idea of justice justifies Mateusz’s pursuit of a personal vendetta in Bina’s eyes.

“The story of Masada, a fortress and symbol of the ancient kingdom of Israel, is one of the most powerful historical tales depicting the Jews’ heroic last stand against the Roman conquerors two thousand years ago, in which 967 Jewish men, women, and children fought until the very last moment and reportedly chose to take their own lives rather than endure enslavement or death at the hands of the encroaching Roman army. Every Jewish child learns this story, not to romanticize death, but so they will stand up and fight for their Judaism.”

Bina reminds the girls in the Great Synagogue of the story of Masada. The reference to this story highlights how dying by suicide forms an important component of Resistance and Survival in the Face of Oppression, becoming something noble and dignified in historical Jewish narratives about oppression. It also underlines how deeply the community is primed to cherish its faith and culture owing to a history of oppression.

“Who was he before he came here? What exactly does he do when he’s not moonlighting as a driver? How is he able to do this without getting caught?”

After Stach reveals that Lukas is a “Nazi turncoat,” Bina begins to wonder about him. The questions that Bina is plagued with in this passage foreshadow that Lukas may not be as trustworthy as Stach believes. Bina’s doubts turn to horrific reality when Lukas is eventually revealed as the Żegota mole and ends up not only costing Stach his life but also destroying Bina’s.

“I was specific with Stach that day in his office when he told me we were going to murder his father and he needed my help. I said I must have a Browning P35—that it was symbolic […] The Browning was the same make used to bludgeon my beloved father, the man who raised me, cherished me, laughed with me, told me I could become anything I wanted to be.”

Bina demands a Browning P35 from Stach with which to kill the baron as symbolic gesture. It is not enough for Bina to kill the baron; she must do so in a manner that symbolically avenges her father. This choice embeds The Conflation of Justice and Revenge within the narrative: Exacting revenge becomes Bina’s way of attaining both poetic justice and closure for herself.

“‘These Jews. Not all bad, you know. I worked for one for years. Generous. Treated everyone equally. Gave me a large bonus every Christmas—triple time. He was that kind of Jew.’ Was, I think. We were all that kind of Jew once.”

One of the Polish smugglers whom Bina encounters, a man named Vladek, turns out to have worked for Bina’s father. This passage highlights two things: First, not all the violence and animosity toward the Jews during the war stemmed from an inherent hatred, as evidenced by Vladek’s positive memories of Bina’s father—some of it also came from the fear of retribution if one didn’t comply with the Nazi dictate. Second, the reversal of Vladek’s and Bina’s fortunes, where the latter is now dependent on the former to survive, underscores how unpredictable war can be and how different Bina’s life has become compared to her past.

“Everybody in the room bows their head. The moment seems to freeze. Clearly, everyone knows what happened, how it happened, what I did to make it happen. Murderer, savior, heroine—pick one.”

The ZOB fighters welcome Bina back and acknowledge her role in helping the girls in the Great Synagogue escape a fate worse than death by choosing death themselves. Bina understands that although this is the general consensus, her role in making it happen paints her in a conflicting moral light—on the one hand, she has saved the girls; on the other, she has enabled their deaths by suicide. Throughout her life, Bina finds herself carrying out morally gray actions, first because she is left with no choice and later because she grows comfortable with the moral ambiguity.

“I could easily curl up and die, take the fast way out by hurling myself in the middle of the uprising and be done. But something bigger than me is pushing me to stay alive. Self-loathing turns to defiance, becoming the wind beneath me.”

After leaving the ghetto, despite all the heartbreak and suffering that Bina has endured, she refuses to succumb to death. Her ability to push through the pain indicates her resilience and strength of character. Her reflection on how her defiance is born of self-loathing, coupled with how she goes on to live out the rest of her life, also indicates that she has truly internalized The Conflation of Justice and Revenge in her own quest for redemption.

“Instead of hanging by a noose, he was saved by the U.S. government, as part of its Operation Paperclip, a top secret intelligence program in which sixteen hundred high-ranking Nazi scientists, engineers, and technicians were rescued from Nazi Germany, their criminal pasts wiped clean, and given U.S. government employment after the war. Why waste a brilliant mind, right?”

Bina, now Lena, explains why she killed the man named Rolf Wagner and how he came to live his life in America. Operation Paperclip was a real secret United States intelligence operation to extract “intellectual reparations” from Germany after its fall in the war. Barr peppers the narrative with historical details such as these to lend authenticity to the narrative, as well as to justify Bina’s continued desire for revenge: As Nazi ideology and war criminals continue to run free even in Allied territories, Bina’s actions are an extended form of resistance through revenge.

“Closing my eyes and clinging to the guardrail, I allowed the crisp night air to wash over me, basking in the exquisite cleansing sensation. I pictured Lady Liberty in the far-off distance welcoming me with her torch held high, promising a new beginning, and I vowed never to leave my past behind.”

Bina makes it to the United States aboard the SS Ernie Pyle. Her vow to never leave her past behind is reflected in her choice of name: She takes the last name Browning as a reminder of her father’s death and her need to exact revenge on those who have wronged her. Thus, even as Bina begins anew, she remains deeply entrenched in her past.

“Disney was a friend, and there were other famous friends who embraced our views. Henry Ford. Charles Lindbergh. Coco Chanel, Hugo Boss, Joe Kennedy…the list of support is wide and endless.”

Müller brags about some of the big names across the world who supported Nazi ideology. Once again, Barr introduces historical fact into the narrative: All of these famous names are people who are highly suspected, if not proven to have been, Nazi sympathizers or members of the Nazi Party. Barr uses the weight of these well-known names to once again justify Lena’s continued vigilance and desire for revenge, underlining how antisemitism is a global and ever-present threat.

“Connie. My trusted assistant for the past five years. Thirty years old. Reserved, kind, smart, trustworthy, resourceful Connie was testing the Nazi waters.”

Bina is heartbroken when she inadvertently learns that her assistant, Connie, is being recruited by the Nazis. Betrayal is a recurring motif in the book, with Bina having both participated in a number of betrayals herself and also experiencing her fair share of the same. The relative ease with which the Nazis are able to recruit Connie, despite her connection to Bina (as Lena), underlines not only the depth of the betrayal but also the danger of the Nazi rhetoric and related propaganda.

“Yes, I poisoned them and blew them up—leaving nothing to chance. The Nazi victory film is destroyed along with its fanatical creators. It’s over. And the young Bina Blonski, who lives and fights within me, rises to take her final bow before the only audience that has ever mattered.”

Bina ensures that nothing is left to chance, as she not only rigs the movie set with dynamite but also adds poison to the Nazis’ drinks. Müller’s destruction is yet another instance of poetic justice, especially since Bina scales the heights of wealth and fame on the back of this scandal. Additionally, her remembrance of the “young Bina Blonski” within her underscores how she continues to hold onto her past and let it guide her motivations and actions, reflecting The Complexities of Identity.

“‘You want that Oscar.’ ‘Clever girl,’ I say with a penetrating gaze. But, sadly for you, not that clever. ‘Oscar is the only man in Hollywood I never slept with. So yes, I intend to make his bed my last one.’ Once again, two truths and a lie—my specialty.”

Bina allows Sienna to believe that an Oscar is her ultimate aim with the biopic. Despite the closeness that she develops with Sienna and all the other details she has already revealed about her life to the younger starlet, Bina still doesn’t let her in on the truth about her “final act.” This measure of guardedness is a result of the numerous betrayals that Bina has faced throughout her life. The ease with which she maintains the deception also highlights how she has grown entirely comfortable operating in moral ambiguity.

“My heart palpitates. It’s not the woman who steals my attention at first. It is what’s perched behind her in a glass case. A violin. Not just any violin, but the Behrmans’ Stradivarius. How is that possible? And the woman in the photograph…pianist Diana Mazur.”

Bina recognizes the Behrmans’ Stradivarius and realizes that Dina is alive after all. Dina’s survival is a moment of personal redemption for Bina, reassuring her that her part in the Great Synagogue incident was not in vain. The violin thus becomes a symbol of resilience and the endurance of the human spirit.

“No one—not even those criminals—could steal their passion, their God-given talent. My parents played in the ghetto’s central square every Sabbath to bring light to the darkness, to remind everyone of what we all once cherished together: the music.”

Dina addresses the audience and details how her parents continued to play their violin in the ghetto. The Behrmans’ Stradivarius is an important symbol in the book, and the Behrmans’ playing marks it out as a symbol of resistance as well as hope: The Behrmans attempted to bring light and hope to others in times of darkness.

“‘Anna,’ I whisper. ‘It’s you.’ Her granddaughters look at her, then at me, and I understand. Her name isn’t Anna, the way mine isn’t Irina or Lena. The way Diana Mazur isn’t Diana. The way Sienna isn’t Sienna.”

Bina meets Anna again, realizing that this isn’t her true name and identity after all. She details the different people in her life, including herself, who hold different identities from their real ones. Each of these women have adopted a different name and identity for a different reason—some for survival, some for healing, and some for an escape. These different contexts and motivations reflect The Complexities of Identity.

“‘Take this—our good luck charm. Do what you must do.’ I stare at the jeweled hairpin reclining in my palm, sandwiched between my hand and hers. I hold her gaze, squeeze the pin, and allow its slim sharpness to prick at my skin. My last act is for both of us.”

The jeweled hairpin that Anna/Petra gives Bina is an important symbol in the book. Anna first gave it to “Irina” during the cabaret bombing night, and it brought Bina luck in that she was able to kill the baron after all. Bina passed it back to Anna as a symbol of gratitude for Anna lending Bina her true identity, and Anna, too, eventually survived but left her past behind. For the two women connected through their bloody past, The Complexities of Identity is what has helped them survive, which the hair pin evokes. Bina, as Lena, dons it one last time as she sets out to achieve her final act.

“In the fleeting moment that Sienna turns away from the audience and locks eyes with me, I perceive the ever-so-small curl in the corners of her lush ruby-red mouth—one of a dozen Sienna smiles I have come to know. This barely visible triumphant grin tells the story of a trailer-park kid who rose from the ashes of abuse, drugs, and neglect, and did what she needed to do to survive.”

After Bina shoots Lukas, Sienna rushes onto stage to shield her. Bina realizes that Sienna approves of her actions, and her reflections offer a glimpse as to why the two women connected. Despite Bina’s initial appraisal of Sienna, the latter turned out to be far grittier and resilient than she imagined. Here, Bina hints at how this is rooted in Sienna having to overcome a difficult background, just like Bina herself did, speaking once more to Resistance and Survival in the Face of Oppression.