History Literature / LaughingWinds

* FauxDeath: Annika is mistaken for dead after being shot for attacking the guard and passing out. Ironically it's partially what saves her from execution for the attack.

* [[Took A Level In Kindness TookALevelinKindness]] : Laura goes from being very cold, selfish, and indifferent, to offering to help the others when she can, and at one point even pushes and drags Annika out of her despondency when [[spoiler: she becomes overwhelmed with guilt and grief over Lukas death]], even Annika is surprised by the sudden role reversal.

* DarkestHour: [[spoiler: Lukas]] death, not only because of the death itself which was sudden/unexpected and pretty traumatic for all of them, but also because an [[spoiler: object vital for their escape plan was discovered and there is no time for them to find an alternative or implement a new plan]] So not only are they grieving their friend and very shaken by what happened, but the whole group [[DespairEventHorizon loses all hope]] of making it out of the camp alive.

* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath : Happens a lot at the death camp. From people being forced to dig their own graves before being shot to people being thrown alive into fire.
* FauxDeath: Annika is mistaken for dead after being shot for attacking the guard and passing out.

* FieryRedhead: Lukas is a redhead, and has the fiery temper to match.

--> '''Lukas:''' <pause> Thankyou.

* TookALevelinKindness: Laura goes from being very cold, selfish, and indifferent, to offering to help the others when she can, and at one point even pushes and drags Annika out of her despondency when [[spoiler: she becomes overwhelmed with guilt and grief over Lukas death]], even Annika is surprised by the sudden role reversal.

* TheDogBitesBack: Annika sees a guard pulling a childs remains out of the furnace the same night [[spoiler: her brother disappears]] The next day while working on the assembly line the same guard confronts her [[BewareTheNiceOnes and she snaps]].

* ArousedByTheirVoice - Annika's first encounter with Laura is due to her following the sound of Laura's singing, mostly out of curiosity. She later describes Laura's singing voice as alluring and richly dark, and at another point in the story claims to find it hard to ignore Laura in general, describing Lauras words as having an almost magnetic pull for her - it's only because of Annika's own strong feelings and attraction towards Laura though.

* BrokenBird: Laura.[[spoiler: she has been at the camp since she was 7 when her father, who was not Jewish, betrayed Laura, her mother and her twin sister to the Nazis, her mother was killed shortly after entering the camp while she and her sister were taken and experimented on until her sister eventually died from complications (which just to add to the trauma, Laura got to witness), then when they were done using her as a test subject Laura was finally dumped back into the main death camp badly scarred and having lost everyone close to her.]] The experience left her bitter, emotionally damaged, and reluctant to get close to anyone.

* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: Laura rarely shows any outward emotional reaction to even the most horrible acts of brutality the group suffer/witness, and even when she does it's to a lesser degree than the others. Justified in that she has been at the camp a lot longer than the others and exposed to almost [[BreakTheCutie constant abuse]] and death from the age of 7.

* FreudianExcuse: Laura, her cold indifference disturbs even Annika at first, but from the age of 7 when she arrived at the camp her whole life seems to have been one massive TraumaCongaLine, see BrokenBird entry above.

* HarmfulToMinors: Harmful to everyone really, but Laura (who was only 7 when first taken to the camp) Michal (9), and Jonah (guessed at either 14 or 15) certainly have witnessed & been through far more than any child should, causing low self esteem and anxiety for Jonah, severe emotional issues in Laura's case, and a lot of anger with Michal.

* FirstKiss: Laura kisses Annika after she realises that Annika is attracted to her resulting in this for Annika.
* FireForgedFriends: The main character and her friends are this. Most of them don't even know each other to begin with, it's the shared situation and danger they are in and their efforts to work together to escape that helps form such a strong camaraderie and friendship between them.

* FauxDeath: Annika is mistaken for dead after being shot for attacking the guard and blacking out.

* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: All of them to an extent, but Laura in particular. She rarely shows any outward emotional reaction to even the most horrible acts of brutality the group suffer/witness, and even when she does it's to a lesser degree than the others. Justified in that she has been at the camp a lot longer than the others and exposed to almost [[BreakTheCutie constant abuse]] and death from the age of 7.
** Also possibly a slight subversion in that she doesn't like the situation, or the cruelty, and she doesn't want to die either, or wish it on anyone else, but she ''has'' accepted the situation and resigned herself to the fact it's a death camp, she and those around her will be killed or die there sooner or later, and there is nothing she can do about it, and she has been exposed to the horror of the death camp for long enough to have become mostly numb to it.

* SourOutsideSadInside: Laura, she spends most of the book keeping everyone at arms length, tells Annika she cannot be her friend at one point and another time claims that Annika doesn't really know her and never will. She warns Annika several times not to get attached to the others either because "they are only going to die". But her icy wall turns out to be mostly a defence. A couple of times after Annika tries to get through to her Laura's mask slips and she shows signs of conflict and distress, once to the point of [[NotSoStoic crying]], although she tries to hide it. When she finally drops her mask completely and opens her heart to Annika, the way she explains herself, admitting she only stood away from them because she was afraid of getting close and seeks reassurance from Annika is pretty heartbreaking.

-> ''When Annika Straum is handed a violin and told to learn how to play, Annika knows she is about to die. In Dachau Concentration Camp, music means death. Prisoners are tasked with performing a concert before their own execution. Annika is not afraid to die. Annika has already lost everyone and everything she ever loved. The girl with the green eyes is also about to die. In the form of a stranger, Annika finds company. Annika finds a mystery. And though she is dying, Annika learns to live.''

* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: All of them to an extent, but Laura in particular. She rarely shows any outward emotional reaction to even the most horrible acts of brutality the group suffer/witness, and even when she does it's to a lesser degree than the others. Justified in that she has been at the camp a lot longer than the others and exposed to almost constant abuse and death from the age of 7.

* QuirkyCurls: Shechem and Jonah both have hair like this (at least before it's shaved off).

* SourOutsideSadInside: Laura, she spends most of the book keeping everyone at arms length, tells Annika she cannot be her friend at one point and another time claims that Annika doesn't really know her and never will. She warns Annika several times not to get attached to the others either because "they are only going to die". But her icy wall turns out to be mostly a defence. A couple of times after Annika tries to get through to her Laura's mask slips and she shows signs of conflict and distress, once to the point of [[SingleTear crying]], although she tries to hide it. When she finally drops her mask completely and opens her heart to Annika, the way she explains herself, admitting she only stood away from them because she was afraid and seeks reassurance from Annika is pretty heartbreaking.

* IDontWantToDie: All of the main characters, but Annika, Jonah, and Eleny all say it out loud at some point. Even Laura says this after one of Annika's heart-to-heart conversations with her.

* BrokenBird: Laura.[[spoiler: she has been at the camp since she was 7 when her father, who was not Jewish, betrayed Laura, her mother and her twin sister to the Nazis, her mother was killed shortly after entering the camp, while she and her sister were taken and experimented on until her sister eventually died from complications (which just to add to the trauma, Laura got to witness), then when they were done using her as a test subject Laura was finally dumped back into the main death camp, badly scarred, and having lost everyone close to her.]] The experience left her bitter, emotionally damaged, and reluctant to get close to anyone.

* CynicismCatalyst: most of the main characters go or have gone through this. With Laura it was the experiments she and her twin sister were put through and the subsequent death of her twin, with Lia it was the loss of her son, who may or may not be dead, but either way was taken from her, and Jonah witnessed his parents and sister being ripped to pieces by the Nazis attack dogs.

* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath : Happens a lot at the death camp. From people being forced to dig their own graves before being shot, to people being thrown alive into fire.

* FirstKiss: Laura kisses Annika after she realises that Annika is attracted to her, resulting in this for Annika.
* FireForgedFriends: The main character and her friends are this. Most of them don't even know each other to begin with, it's the shared situation and danger they are in, and their efforts to work together to escape that helps form such a strong camaraderie and friendship between them.

* {{Gayngst}} : Averted with Jurgen who has long since accepted his sexuality, and also with Laura who is equally accepting. Subverted and downplayed with Annika, she does worry about her orientation on a couple of occasions, but still accepts her sexuality and attraction to Laura fairly quickly.

* InnocenceLost: If they're innocent on entering the camp, they're certainly not after awhile of being there. All the characters are affected negatively by what they experience and see there to some degree, just some sooner and more severely than others. Radka is the only (arguable) subversion, and that's partially because the others shield and support her as far as they can, Eleny in particular. Jonah and Michal,the only children in the group, had their innocence destroyed on or shortly after entering the camp.

* KillItWithFire: The furnace is used as an especially sadistic method of murder by the camp guards, as some people get forced/thrown into the flames alive.
* LikeBrotherAndSister: Lukas and Annika, Lukas often acts like a protective big brother towards her, especially when the Nazi's are close by, and Annika refers to Lukas as being like a brother to her on several occasions.

* ManlyTears: Jurgen on a few occasions, but especially when overhearing Annika's very clumsy and awkward but sincere ItHasBeenAnHonor speech to Eleny near the end.
* MasterRace: The attitude of the Nazis, who see their race as superior and relentlessly persecute almost anyone who isn't them.
* MirthlessLaughter:, Annika wonders at one point about Daavids ability to smile, and even laugh, given their situation, but realises later that its mostly nervous laughter.

* NotSoAboveItAll: The stoic and distant Laura is seen struggling not to smile at the others playing music and messing around during one rare moment of distraction (they are locked in the basement and are really supposed to be practising for the concert), later she even tells a joke.
* OrphansOrdeal: May fit all of them as most or all of the characters are probably orphans given the circumstances, but Michal, Laura, Jonah, and Annika in particular fit this trope, all of them having lost their parents on entering the death camp.

* SanitySlippage: A mild example but Lia seems to lose her grip on reality slightly before breaking down and becoming completely inconsolable. For example she starts talking and acting towards Jonah as if she believes he is her missing son, despite the fact Jonah is around 14, while her missing son is an infant who was taken away from her before she was sent to the camp, and the only real link between Jonah and her son is sharing the same first name. She certainly alarms the other characters who are concerned for her but have no idea how to help her,
* SayMyName: Annika calls out for every single one of her friends, and her family [[spoiler: as she is dying]]
* ShrinkingViolet: Jonah, he has a very nervous disposition, and to begin with he is withdrawn and shy to the extreme. He does get a little better once he gets used to and more comfortable with the group but remains very quiet most of the time.

* TheBear: Jurgen is gay and described as this. His thick beard, and large size and strength are the first things Annika notices about him.

* TitledAfterTheSong: The title of the book is a reference to a lyric in the song Donna Donna, a variation of which is also sung in the book. The lyrics are slightly different, and the title of the song is referred to by the characters as "the calf and the swallow" but the story and subject of the song closely follows that of "Donna Donna" and it's a pretty obvious homage to the song if you have heard the original.

* VitriolicBestBuds: Eleny and Lukas are this towards each other, they frequently argue, but are nevertheless friends beneath all the bickering and sarcasm.

* KickTheDog: Done to the main characters by the Nazis, for example Radka accidentally hits her thumb with a hammer at one point, cries out with pain, then gets hit in the stomach with the butt of a gun for stopping working, hard enough that it knocks her over.

* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: All of them to an extent, but Laura in particular. She rarely shows any outward emotional reaction to even the most horrible acts of brutality the group suffer/witnesses, and even when she does it's to a lesser degree than the others. Justified in that she has been at the camp a lot longer than the others and exposed to almost constant abuse and death from the age of 7.
** Also possibly a slight subversion in that she doesn't like the situation, or the cruelty, and she doesn't want to die either, or wish it on anyone else, but she has accepted the situation and resigned herself to the fact it's a death camp, she and those around her will be killed/die sooner or later, and there is nothing she can do about it, and she has been exposed to the horrors of the death camp for long enough to have become mostly numb to it.

* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: Laura rarely shows any outward emotional reaction to even the most horrible acts of brutality the group suffer/witnesses, and even when she does it's to a lesser degree than the others. Justified in that she has been at the camp a lot longer than the others and exposed to almost constant abuse and death from the age of 7.

** Also possibly a slight subversion in that while she seems to have accepted it, she doesn't like the situation, or the cruelty, and she doesn't want herself or anyone else to die either, but she has resigned herself to the fact it's a death camp, she and those around her will be killed/die sooner or later, and there is nothing she can do about it, and she has been exposed to the horrors of the death camp for long enough to have become mostly numb to it.

* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: Laura is probably the best example of this trope ut of the characters. She rarely shows any outward emotional reaction to even the most horrible acts of brutality the group suffer/witnesses, and even when she does it's to a lesser degree than the others. Justified in that she has been at the camp a lot longer than the others and exposed to almost constant abuse and death from the age of 7.

* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: Laura is probably the best example of this trope. She rarely shows any outward emotional reaction to even the most horrible acts of brutality the group suffer/witnesses, and even when she does it's to a lesser degree than the others. Justified in that she has been at the camp a lot longer than the others and exposed to almost constant abuse and death from the age of 7.

* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: Laura is probably the best example of this trope. She rarely shows any outward emotional reaction to even the most horrible acts of brutality the group suffer/witnesses, and even when she does its usually to a lesser degree than the others. Justified in that she has been at the camp a lot longer than the others and exposed to almost constant abuse and death from the age of 7. Also possibly a slight subversion in that she doesn't like the situation at all, or the cruelty, and she doesn't want to die either, she has just resigned herself to the fact it's a death camp and she will be killed sooner or later, and there is nothing she can do about it , and has been exposed to the horrors of the death camp for long enough to have become mostly numb to it.

* SanitySlippage: A mild example but Lia seems to lose her grip on reality slightly before sinking into total despair. She certainly alarms the other characters who are concerned for her but have no idea how to help her,

* DeathWail: Eleny lets out a scream like this when [[spoiler: Daavid dies]].

* NotSoStoic: Eleny. Most of the time she's a model of self-control. Through most of the story she rarely visibly gets upset or panics, and is probably mentally the strongest of the group. The mask does slip slightly on occasion, such as after [[spoiler: Radka's death]], but she still stays reasonably composed. So she surprises everybody when she breaks down sobbing in relief after she and the others think they finally have a way to escape. She also becomes very upset and starts shaking after [[spoiler: Lukas death]], and screams in anguish and despair when [[spoiler: Daavid dies]].

* TheseHandsHaveKilled: Annika [[spoiler: attacks a guard with a saw & kills him]] , and spends a lot of time questioning herself and feeling guilty after.

* NoNameGiven: For awhile after meeting each other, the characters only know each other by their numbers. Finally Lia introduces herself because she doesn't want them to die as strangers. Most of the others quickly follow suit, but [[spoiler: Laura]] refuses to give anyone her name. She does eventually tell Annika (after some persuasion), but it's long after the others have done so.

* MirthlessLaughter:, Annika wonders at one point about Daavids ability to smile, and even laugh, given their situation, but realises later that its mostly nervous laughter. Laura laughs bitterly a few times as well, and Annika herself laughs inappropriately on occasion.

* MirthlessLaughter:, Annika wonders at one point about Daavids ability to smile, and even laugh, given their situation, but realises later that its mostly nervous laughter.

* MusicForCourage: Music is used frequently by the group in an attempt to calm themselves, provide some distraction from their situation, and generally try to raise their spirits, although Daavid and Jurgen are the only ones who already knows how to play an instrument prior to being locked in the basement and told to learn (Jurgen can play the accordion and Daavid can play piano and some violin), the others just try to play as best they can.

* DefrostingIceQueen: Laura. At first she is aloof, seemingly indifferent to everyone else, and emotionally closed off. She thaws eventually but she still struggles with getting close to people and doesn't completely let her walls down for much of the book. She does however become more willing to talk and engage with the others, and shows moments of encouragement and being helpful towards them, especially Annika, but it takes a long while for her to be able to open up completely

* FauxDeath: Annika is mistaken for dead after [[spoiler: being shot for attacking the guard and blacking out]]
* FirstKiss: Laura kisses Annika after she notices that Annika is attracted to her, resulting in this for Annika.

* FieryRedhead: Lukas is a redhead, has the fiery temper to match, and has the least amount of patience out of all of them.

* GentleGiant: Jurgen, for all his size and strength he is very gentle and compassionate and quickly takes Annika under his wing, almost treating her as a surrogate daughter

* HoldingHands: Annika's parents hold hands when they first enter the death camp, until they are forced to separate, and when [[spoiler: Annika sees them again before their deaths they are also holding hands]]. Annika also holds Laura's hand at one point, and holds hands with her brother for mutual comfort on one occasion as well. Eleny and Daavid also hold hands one time while sitting next to each other and playing on the piano together (although Eleny doesn't really know how to play). In this case the hand holding is of the IntertwinedFingers variety

* MusicForCourage: Music is used frequently by the group in an attempt to calm themselves, provide some distraction from their situation, and generally try to raise their spirits, although Daavid is the only one who already knows how to play an instrument prior to being locked in the basement and told to learn (he can play piano and some violin), the others just try to play as best they can.