Character Relationship Map: The Execution

Characters

• Marysia Walenka (played by Loretta Swit) — protagonist

  Marysia is one of the five women in a San Diego Wednesday-night mah jongg club who survived a Nazi concentration camp. The women recognize a local restaurant owner as the doctor who experimented on th...

• Gertrude Simon (played by Jessica Walter) — supporting

  Gertrude is one of the five women in a San Diego Wednesday-night mah jongg club who survived a Nazi concentration camp. The women recognize a local restaurant owner as the doctor who experimented on t...

• Sophie Langbein (played by Barbara Barrie) — supporting

  Sophie is one of the five women in a San Diego Wednesday-night mah jongg club who survived a Nazi concentration camp. The women recognize a local restaurant owner as the doctor who experimented on the...

• Elsa Spahn (played by Sandy Dennis) — supporting

  Elsa is one of the five women in a San Diego Wednesday-night mah jongg club who survived a Nazi concentration camp. The women recognize a local restaurant owner as the doctor who experimented on them...

• Hannah Epstein (played by Valerie Harper) — supporting

  Hannah is one of the five women in a San Diego Wednesday-night mah jongg club who survived a Nazi concentration camp. The women recognize a local restaurant owner as the doctor who experimented on the...

• Ted Simon (played by Allan Miller) — supporting
• Max Langbein (played by Alan Oppenheimer) — supporting

Canonical Relationships

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

• Sophie Langbein → Max Langbein (Family Spouse) — Married couple
• Gertrude Simon → Ted Simon (Family Spouse) — Married couple

Story Dynamics

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

• Marysia Walenka → Hannah Epstein (Alliance Conspirator) — Members of the same mah jongg club and co-conspirators in the execution plan
• Marysia Walenka → Elsa Spahn (Alliance Conspirator) — Members of the same mah jongg club and co-conspirators in the execution plan
• Marysia Walenka → Sophie Langbein (Alliance Conspirator) — Members of the same mah jongg club and co-conspirators in the execution plan
• Marysia Walenka → Gertrude Simon (Alliance Conspirator) — Members of the same mah jongg club and co-conspirators in the execution plan

Story Analysis

Five concentration camp survivors confront an unpunished former doctor and secretly plan a retaliatory execution.

Plot Progression

1. A Club Bound by Memory — Five women meet at a Wednesday night mah jongg club in San Diego. Their shared identity as concentration camp survivors provides the hidden background to the story.
2. The Doctor Reappears — The women recognize local restaurant owner Walter Grossman as a doctor from their camp. They recall that he performed experiments on them when they were young girls.
3. Justice Proves Inadequate — The women discover that Grossman was tried as a war criminal. Their horror deepens when they learn that he served only a few years for his crimes.
4. The Vengeance Decision — The women decide that they will execute Grossman themselves. The decision transforms their shared trauma into a secret collective plan.
5. A Secret Lottery — They draw lots to select the woman who will perform the act. They keep the identity of the selected woman hidden from the others.