Character Relationship Map: Lore

Characters

• Lore (played by Saskia Rosendahl) — protagonist

  Lore is the eldest daughter left in charge of her younger siblings after her mother goes to a camp and her father disappears. She leads the children on a dangerous journey, confronts evidence of Nazi...

• Thomas (played by Kai-Peter Malina) — protagonist

  Thomas is a young man who joins Lore and her siblings while claiming to be Jewish to pass American scrutiny. He helps them obtain transport, food, and safety, kills a threatening boatman, and ultimate...

• Liesel (played by Nele Trebs) — supporting

  Liesel is one of Lore's younger siblings and travels with the family through postwar Germany. She questions Lore's hostility toward Thomas, receives Baby Peter after Thomas rescues him from the river,...

• Farmer (played by Sven Pippig) — supporting
• Jürgen (played by Mika Seidel) — supporting

  Jürgen is one of Lore's brothers and part of the group traveling toward Grandma's house. After Günter's death, he admits stealing Thomas's wallet to stop Thomas from abandoning them, revealing that th...

• Farmer's Wife (played by Katrin Pollitt) — minor

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Farmer's Wife → Farmer (wife)
• Lore → Liesel (Family Sister) — Lore acts as Liesel's protective older sister during the escape.

  Liesel travels with Lore as one of the abandoned children. She questions Lore about Thomas and shares the journey to their grandmother's house.

• Lore → Jürgen (Family Sibling) — Their sibling bond persists through hunger, danger, and conflict.

  Jürgen travels with Lore and the other children. At the end, Lore sides with him when he grabs bread at the dining table.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Thomas → Jürgen (Conflict Betrayal) — Jürgen's secret action directly contributes to Thomas leaving the train.

  Jürgen confesses that he stole Thomas's wallet so Thomas would not abandon the children, causing Thomas to lose the identity papers needed on the trai...

• Thomas → Liesel (Alliance Protector) — Thomas protects the children and entrusts Liesel with Peter during the escape.

  When Lore backs into the river with Peter, Thomas pulls them out and hands Peter to Liesel.

• Lore → Thomas (Alliance Reluctant Ally) — Lore depends on Thomas even while distrusting his identity and motives.

  Thomas claims Lore is his sister to obtain transport, then provides food, helps rescue Lore and Peter from the river, and guides the children toward t...

Story Analysis

A Nazi family's children cross postwar Germany while confronting inherited guilt, survival, identity, and the collapse of ideological innocence.

Plot Progression

1. A Family Without Shelter — The father's return and the mother's departure destroy the children's domestic security. Lore assumes responsibility and begins leading the siblings away from the forest cabin.
2. Walking Through Defeat — The children travel through ruined settlements, hunger, and death while Lore trades family jewelry for food. Photographs of concentration-camp atrocities force her to recognize her father's crimes.
3. The Stranger's Protection — Thomas repeatedly reappears and joins the children after presenting Jewish identification papers. His food, protection, and false claim of kinship make him indispensable but deeply suspect.
4. Violence At The River — Lore's unstable intimacy with Thomas gives way to a brutal river crossing. Thomas kills the boatman, and Günther's death under Soviet fire leaves the remaining group traumatized.
5. The Cost Of Passing — Thomas remains after Lore's hateful outburst but loses his papers and leaves the train. Jürgen reveals his theft, while Lore reaches Omi's house and violently rejects the remnants of her former home.