To the Nazis he is an enemy. To the Catholics of Schwarzenfeld, this American citizen is their "Provinsche," the one who saved them from absolute destitution during the Great Depression.

Far from a mild-mannered priest, he is a shrewd leader with a steel backbone, capable of outmaneuvering Nazis who are hellbent upon dismantling the religious province he has fought to establish. He is warm and fatherly with his German parishioners, projecting a strength that makes them say “Yes, Pater!” and follow him without hesitation. He will defend them to the hilt—and finds himself doing exactly that. His only weapon is his adamant faith.

A Party official and a humanitarian, he is a split character—good and evil, two personas in one. As the Party member he has a cold jewel stare and a frightening talent for subterfuge. Yet, snap your fingers and he’ll shift into the charity worker—a man deeply moved by the pain of others, ready to deplete himself to alleviate suffering. He takes extreme care to save the wine of empathy for his own people.

Eventually Fr. Viktor sees Wilhelm Seiz for what he is—Heaven’s highest virtue with a swastika on his sleeve. As a man of God, the priest cannot abide a tragedy of such magnitude. He fights to turn this wayward son around. Will Seiz ever listen? Heaven only knows.

Despite prayers for her soul mate to return from war, he lies dead on enemy soil. Her eldest son is suffering in the Hitler Youth, but refuses to let her intervene. Her close friend Norbert Gindele—also her employer—teeters on the verge of arrest, increasing her responsibilities at work. It takes all of Helene’s strength to function.

Inspired by Fr. Viktor's vision of the Framework—the mysterious ways in which God works through the good of the world—Helene's sense of hope is renewed. She courageously seeks out every opportunity to help and heal suffering in her midst. Her most poignant moment occurs when SS guards lead a death march of Jews through Schwarzenfeld.

The willow-thin boy revels in daydreams to escape realities he cannot bear—especially his father’s death. Proof of God’s existence rests upon prayers made for Papa’s return, and they will never be answered.

At the darkest moment of his young life, Klaus crosses paths with another character on this list. First the man saves Klaus from an abusive Hitler Youth leader, then he crouches to the boy’s level and speaks in a paternal manner. Klaus is strongly reminded of his beloved Papa. Later in the story, Fr. Viktor compels Klaus to reflect upon the sorrows of his life. The boy is struck by a stunning revelation. There was an answer to his desperate prayer—but God responded in a way that Klaus least expected, through a person that the boy would never suspect.

He is a striking man, naturally charming, a devout Catholic with a fierce moral fiber—and a spirit kindled by a righteous fury against Reich and Party. A Wehrmacht veteran discharged from duty on account of wounds and age, he fought in France and Poland and witnessed atrocities that make him feel consumed by sin simply for having observed them.

Now at home, he owns and operates one of Schwarzenfeld’s four bakeries and the townspeople heavily depend upon him to provide their most essential staples. When the Catholics of Schwarzenfeld rise up in acts of resistance against the Reich, Norbert Gindele is certain to be at the center of it. Only Fr. Viktor can give him peace through faith, prayer—and a plan that lets him secretly defy a government he loathes beyond words.

This gentle soul with the buttercream voice is a living angel. When patrons step through the doors of the Gindele Bakery, she aims the same bright smile at Party members and Slavic laborers alike. She is such a benign creature that no one complains about her greeting people in God’s name rather than Hitler’s.

When a Russian laborer stumbles into the Gindele bakery and begs for bread with an empty ration card, Maria stuns Helene by tucking his papers into her lap and pretending to cut invisible stamps. In her warm, kindly voice, she tells Helene to give the man bread for free. From that day forward, they find an abundance of Slavic laborers patronizing the bakery.

A softspoken Austrian with a velvet voice, he is quietly courageous, Fr. Viktor’s confidant through trial and tribulation. When the tides of fortune shift out of their favor, Fr. Paul remains staunchly supportive. He stands ready to help Fr. Viktor ponder their next move, so they can regain the upper hand.

The most adorable boy ever born on German soil. Enough said!

He is Helene’s youngest son, the one who always makes her smile—even through tears. When Klaus slips into dreams of being Leutnant Heidl, little Hans is the Altar Boy Adjutant, a mixture of youthful wisdom and eye-rolling naivety, but always a trusty sidekick. His innocence sharply contrasts with the horrors of war. During the darkest moments, little Hans brings introspection and light.

A soldier captured on the Eastern front in 1941, he is brought to Schwarzenfeld and subjected to heavy labor in the town’s ceramics factory. He is the first to receive free bread from Maria and Helene, which compels him to befriend both women through the course of the story. When American liberators roll into town in the latter chapters, he stands with fellow laborers in front of the Gindele Bakery and announces to American GIs, “Here there are good people living! You got no trouble here!”