Character Relationship Map: The Assault

Characters

• Young Anton Steenwijk (played by Marc van Uchelen) — protagonist

  The younger brother of the Steenwijk family, imprisoned in a dark cell following the Nazi execution of his parents and older brother. He witnesses only the mouth of an older woman who comforts him bef...

• Father Steenwijk (played by Frans Vorstman) — supporting

  Father Steenwijk is Anton's father and part of the family living in Haarlem during the occupation. After Fake Ploeg is shot and Peter runs off with the pistol, German soldiers search the Steenwijk hom...

• Young Karin Korteweg (played by Hiske van der Linden) — minor
• Peter Steenwijk (played by Casper de Boer) — minor

  Peter is Anton's brother. After Fake Ploeg is shot near the Steenwijk home, Peter takes Ploeg's pistol and runs off. German soldiers arrive and shoot him, then search and interrogate the family. His d...

• Mr. Korteweg (played by Wim de Haas) — minor

  Mr. Korteweg is among the neighbors connected to the events recalled when Anton visits the Beumers years after the assault. The conversation brings up the neighbors' actions on the night Fake Ploeg wa...

• Mother Steenwijk (played by Edda Barends) — minor

  Mother Steenwijk is Anton's mother, living with him, his father, and Peter during the harsh winter of 1945. After the shooting near their home, German soldiers search and interrogate the family before...

• German Officer (played by Harold Bendig) — supporting

Canonical Relationships

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

• Young Anton Steenwijk → Peter Steenwijk (Family Brothers) — The brothers are separated during the raid after Peter takes the pistol and is shot.

  The plot identifies Peter as Young Anton's brother and says they live together with their parents. Peter takes Ploeg's pistol and runs away before bei...

• Young Anton Steenwijk → Mother Steenwijk (Family Mother And Son) — Young Anton is separated from his mother when the occupying soldiers take the family into custody.

  The plot says Young Anton lives with his parents and brother before German soldiers take the family away.

• Young Anton Steenwijk → Father Steenwijk (Family Father And Son) — Young Anton is separated from his father after the soldiers search the family home and detain them.

  The plot says Young Anton lives with his parents and brother before German soldiers take the family away.

Story Dynamics

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

• Young Anton Steenwijk → Young Karin Korteweg (Social Neighbor Connected To The Tragedy) — Karin is linked to the neighbors and the unresolved history Anton revisits years later.

  The later conversation recalls the neighbors' actions and says that Mr. Korteweg and Karin Korteweg disappeared after the war.

• Young Anton Steenwijk → Mr. Korteweg (Social Neighbor Connected To The Tragedy) — Mr. Korteweg is connected to Anton's continuing effort to understand the events surrounding the assault.

  Years later, Anton's conversation about the assault recalls the neighbors' actions and the postwar disappearance of Mr. Korteweg.

• Peter Steenwijk → German Officer (Conflict Victim And Persecutor) — Peter's flight with the pistol ends in his being shot by the occupying soldiers.

  After Peter takes Ploeg's pistol and runs off, German soldiers arrive and Peter is shot.

• Mother Steenwijk → German Officer (Conflict Captive And Captor) — Mother Steenwijk is taken into custody with her family during the occupation-era raid.

  The German soldiers search the family home, interrogate the Steenwijk family, and take them away.

• Father Steenwijk → German Officer (Conflict Captive And Captor) — Father Steenwijk is caught in the occupiers' retaliation and is taken from his home.

  The German soldiers search the family home, interrogate the Steenwijk family, and take them away.

• Young Anton Steenwijk → German Officer (Conflict Captive And Captor) — The German officer represents the occupying force that detains Young Anton and separates him from his family.

  German soldiers search the Steenwijk home, interrogate the family, and take them away; Young Anton is separated from his relatives.

Story Analysis

A wartime attack fractures a family and leaves Anton wrestling with responsibility, loss, and conflicting memories.

Plot Progression

1. Winter Before the Shooting — Young Anton lives with his family amid hunger and occupation. A hostile passerby condemns him for greeting a schoolmate, foreshadowing the danger around the Steenwijk home.
2. The Raid on the Steenwijks — After the schoolmate is shot, neighbors move the body and Peter takes the pistol. German soldiers arrive, Peter is shot, and the family is searched and interrogated.
3. Separation and Uncertainty — The soldiers take the Steenwijk family away and separate Anton from his relatives. In custody, he faces uncertainty while hearing talk of fear and possible release.
4. Haarlem and the Unresolved Past — Years later, Anton returns to Haarlem and revisits the neighbors' actions and their disappearance after the war. The memories keep questions of responsibility and loss alive.