What is a theme in Sarah's Key?

Another primary theme found throughout Tatiana de Rosnay's novel
Sarah's Key is that horrific circumstances reveal both the best and worst of
human nature. As mentioned above, this is a story set in Paris in 1942, a time of deportation and
extermination for Jews. The name of the architect of the Holocaust, Adolph Hitler, is only
mentioned once. None of the now infamous Nazi leaders appear anywhere in this novel. This is the
story about how ordinary people deal with extraordinary
circumstances.

The people who gather, transport, and guard the Jews
are common people. Those who see what is happening fall into two categories from bothends of the
spectrum: those who try to help and those who try to hurt in order to save themselves. The
selfish and the self-less. The concierge in Sarah's building gleefully turns the Starzynskis in
to the police--even though Sarah's mother used to babysit for her child--and will profit from
doing so. The doctor who comes to the Dufaures to treat Rachel leaves the unassuming, peaceful
home and immediately turns the family in to the authorities. Rather than being concerned about
his patients, the doctor clearly wants to help his own cause by abetting the
Germans.

In contrast, a few people took risks to try to help the
Jews in their horrible position. Some women try to get food to the obviously starving children;
the officer takes pity on Sarah and Rachel and allows them to leave--and gives them money to help
them on their journey. (That money does, eventually, save Sarah from being put back in
prison.)

The theme is clear: even in dire circumstances, people get
to choose how they will respond. The families at every other farmhouse where Sarah and Rachel
stopped for help turned the girls deliberately away; however, the Dufaures were willing to risk
their own lives to help these sick and starving girls. Everyone saw the same injustice and
inhumane treatment happening; only a few chose to do something to help. This is, unfortunately, a
consistent pattern in human nature.