Sage is a 25-year-old baker who works the night shift at Our Daily Bread. She lives in Westerbrook, New Hampshire, and isolates herself due to the trauma of a car accident that left her with a facial scar and killed her mother. Estranged from her sisters and disconnected from her Jewish faith, she struggles with low self-esteem and views herself as unworthy of love.

A 95-year-old German immigrant living in Westerbrook, where he is known as a beloved and mild-mannered widower. He carries a black leather-bound journal and becomes Sage's closest friend before revealing a shocking connection to the Nazi SS during World War II. He seeks out Sage to ask for an ultimate, agonizing favor.

A young German man who joins the Hitler Youth and is eventually promoted within the SS. In the wartime timelines, he serves as a merciless officer at Auschwitz who uses his authority to inflict cruelty upon prisoners. His brutality shapes the horrors experienced by the camp's inmates.

A 37-year-old, recently divorced war crimes prosecutor for the Department of Justice. As a practicing Jew, he is deeply committed to tracking down the remaining perpetrators of the Holocaust to ensure they face legal consequences. He is straightforward and becomes deeply involved in Sage's investigation.

Sage's grandmother, who grew up as the daughter of a baker in Łódź, Poland. She is a Holocaust survivor who has spent decades refusing to speak about her experiences in the Litzmannstadt Jewish Ghetto and Auschwitz. In her youth, she was an avid writer, using stories to cope with her terrifying reality.

An attractive funeral home director in Westerbrook. He is married with two children but carries on an affair with Sage. He uses Sage's low self-esteem to maintain their relationship, offering her fragments of affection that keep her emotionally tethered to him.

A former nun who runs the bakery attached to the Our Lady of Mercy shrine. She serves as Sage's employer and acts as a maternal figure, offering grounded advice while disapproving of Sage's affair with a married man.

Minka's best friend from her childhood in Łódź. She holds strong opinions and harbors a deep resentment for Germans even before the war reaches them. She endures the ghetto and deportation alongside Minka.

Adam's wife and the mother of his twin children. She remains unaware of her husband's ongoing affair with Sage.

One of Adam and Shannon's twin children.

One of Adam and Shannon's twin children.

One of Sage's sisters. She is estranged from Sage following the fatal car accident that killed their mother.

One of Sage's sisters, who shares a strained relationship with Sage in the aftermath of their mother's death.

Minka's older sister. She is newly married and pregnant when the Nazi movement reaches their town, eventually facing horrific struggles in the Bałuty ghetto.

Basia's husband. He attempts to procure black-market medicine when their baby falls badly ill in the ghetto, putting his own life at risk.

The infant son of Basia and Rubin, whose illness and need for medicine drives his parents to desperate measures.

Minka and Basia's mother. She is reluctant to leave behind her lifetime of memories in Poland, leading the family to stay until they are forced into the ghetto.

An older boy in Minka's youth who takes her on her first date. He is enamored by her writing and provides her with falsified Christian papers before fleeing the city.

A boy in the ghetto with whom Minka shares an intimate encounter before she is deported to Auschwitz.

A German man who employs Minka and treats his workers with kindness, hiring as many Jewish people as possible to protect them from deportation.

A man who abuses his power in the ghetto, exploiting vulnerable residents like Basia under the false pretense of saving their family members.

A Jewish friend of Franz from his youth in Germany, whose family is intimidated into leaving town by Reiner.

A Nazi head officer who transfers Reiner to a penal company after catching him with his girlfriend.

Voelkel's girlfriend, whose encounter with Reiner leads to Reiner's transfer to a penal company.

The office historian at the Department of Justice who assists Leo Stein with researching historical Nazi records.

The protagonist of Minka's lifelong fairy tale. She is an eighteen-year-old baker's daughter whose village is plagued by mysterious killings, forcing her to survive a dangerous environment of corrupt officials and supernatural threats.

Also known as Aleks, he is a mysterious newcomer to Ania's village. He takes over the night baking duties for Ania and harbors dark secrets about his true nature and his connection to the village's recent tragedies.

Aleks's "feebleminded" teenage brother, who must be constantly supervised and is connected to the brutal attacks occurring in the village woods.

The handsome but corrupt captain of the village guard in Ania's story. He abuses his power to force his affections on Ania and scapegoat vulnerable people.

The local tax collector in the fairy tale village, who mercilessly pressures Ania and her father for money during the town's crisis.