Maus Characters

Maus Characters

1. Vladek Spiegelman

   • Father of Artie
   • Story of Maus traces his experiences with The Holocaust
   • Polish Jew

2. Artie Spiegelman

   • Author and narrator of Maus
   • Surviving child of Vladek and Anja after the The Holocaust
   • Has a strained relationship with his father, Vladek

3. Mala

   • Second wife of Vladek
   • Lives with Vladek
   • Argues with Vladek almost every time they have a conversation
   • Vladek makes her feel that she can never live up to Anja

4. Anja Spiegelman

   • Vladek's first wife
   • Committed suicide by slitting her wrists in 1968 with no suicide note
   • Artie's Mother
   • Polish Jew

5. Lucia

   • Dated Vladek for 3-4 years before he became engaged
   • Jewish

6. Francoise

   • Wife of Artie
   • French but converted to Judaism in preparation for their marriage to please Vladek
   • Discusses Artie's relationship with Vladek and the Holocaust

7. Richieu Spiegelman

   • Vladek and Anja's first child, born in Poland in 1937
   • Died from poison by Anja's sister, Tosha, as a way to avpid capture by the Nazis

8. Tosha

   • Sister of Anja
   • Responsible for the death of Richieu

9. Mrs Motonowa

   • Befriends Vladek
   • Offers to hide Vladek and Anja at her farm with her seven-year old son

10. Mandelbaum

    • Owned a pastry store in Sosnowiec where Vladek and Anja often shopped
    • Encounters with Vladek again when smugglers take Vladek to Hungary

11. Ilzecki

    • Former customer of Vladek from before the war
    • Meets with Vladek again after conducting business in the black market
    • Offered Vladek to hide Vladek's son - Richieu with his own son in Poland but Anja refuses
    • Dies in The Holocaust

12. Mancie

    • Helps Anja at Birkenau by passing notes and food from Vladek
    • Hungarian Jew
    • Seen as a higher status as a result of an affair with and S.S. guard

13. Yidl

    • Vladek's boss at the tin shop in Auschwitz
    • Communist and Jewish
    • Despises Vladek for having owned a factory before the war and for not knowing how to work with tin

14. Pavel

    • Artie's psychiatrist
    • Also a survivor of the Holocaust
    • Artie sees Pavel once a week and they always tend to make him feel better

15. Mrs Kawka

    • Owner of a small farm on the outskirts of Sosnowiec
    • Allows Vladek and Anja to hide in her barn for a price
    • Vladek and Anja's first place to hide before moving to Mrs Motonowa
    • Person who tells Vladek about the smugglers who can take him to Hungary

16. Haskel

    • Vladek's cousin
    • Chief of the Jewish Police in the Srodula ghetto
    • Survives the war, Vladek sends him packages for some time afterwards

17. Shivek

    • Friend of Vladek's before the war
    • Meet again upon release from concentration camps