The protagonist is the primary character who propels the storyline and often experiences the greatest transformation or growth. This central figure is the one whose journey the audience follows most closely and becomes emotionally invested in. While other characters may play important roles, the protagonist is distinguished by actively pursuing the main objective of the story and undergoing a significant change through that pursuit.
In Joyce Yvette Davis’ historical-fiction thriller “The Lebensborn Experiment, Book I: WWII,” the readers are taken deep into the hidden world of Nazi Germany’s darkest programs. At the center of the story is a kidnapped Polish boy, whose life becomes the subject of horrific experiments inside a Black Forest castle.
Though young and voiceless for much of the novel, he stands as the true protagonist, symbolizing innocence trapped in a machinery of cruelty and hate. His existence is what drives the ambitions of men like Colonel Otto Strauss, a ruthless SS officer hungry for power, and Dr. Josef Weiss, a brilliant but morally broken physician obsessed with creating an indestructible “Aryan superhuman.”
The boy’s suffering is contrasted with the lives of those around him, each embodying a different facet of the era. Hans, Dr. Weiss’s brain-damaged nephew, represents innocence and faith, enduring despite Nazi persecution. Meanwhile, Kapp Johnson and Paul “Pauley” Penson, African American soldiers from the famed 761st Tank Battalion, are captured and brought to the castle, their courage and humanity exposing both Nazi brutality and the racial contradictions of America’s own army. Together, these characters amplify the boy’s story, reminding readers that even in humanity’s darkest hours, resilience and moral strength can shine through.
Getting to know the protagonist of “The Lebensborn Experiment, Book I: WWII” means more than following one child’s journey—it is about confronting the extremes of human ambition, the abuse of science, and the cost of unchecked hatred. The boy embodies the victims of Nazi ideology, but he also symbolizes something greater: the endurance of life and hope against forces determined to erase them. His story challenges us to reflect on our choices, reminding us that the legacy we leave is defined not by power or ambition, but by how we preserve humanity in the face of inhumanity.