Max Rosen is the protagonist of I Survived the Nazi Invasion, 1944. He is an 11-year-old Jewish boy from Esties, Poland. His mother died years before the story begins, and his father, whom he calls Papa, was arrested by the Nazis a month before the novel’s events. Max lives with his younger sister, Zena, in the Esties ghetto, and they share a close bond. Over the course of the novel, Max transforms, growing into a brave individual determined to resist the Nazis.

Max embodies the theme of The Resilience and Resourcefulness of Children in Extreme Circumstances. In Chapter 2, as he and Zena wander the ghetto in search of food, Max recalls his Aunt Hannah’s advice: “Do not let them take away your hope” (7). This idea of hope drives many of Max’s actions, including his decision to sneak beyond the ghetto’s barbed wire to gather raspberries. Though this act seems small, it is his first act of rebellion against the Nazis, and the beginning of his evolution. Later, his instinctive reaction to throw himself at the Nazi soldier to protect Zena is one of the first moments where Max demonstrates bravery, putting his own life at risk to save his sister.