One of the three protagonists of the book, alongside Isabel and Mahmoud. Josef is 12 years old at the beginning of the book, living in ***** Germany in 1938, where Jewish people like Josef are treated as “subhuman” and second-class citizens. His father, Aaron, is taken away by the ***** on Kristallnacht and is sent to the Dachau concentration camp. When Aaron is released six months later, Josef, his mother Rachel, his sister Ruthie, and Aaron all board the St. Louis, which is set to take them to Cuba.
