ACPL Online Book Club discussion

Discuss the themes of good versus evil throughout the story. How do they drive each other? What do you think are the ultimate lessons that these characters and the resolution of their stories teach us?
Question provided by the publisher.

I was somewhat suspicious of the book when I started it. My concern is that the book humanizes Nazis, and I am not sure that is a good idea.

I think the author's treatment of the Nazis in the book makes the case that good and evil are not all or nothing. Frank Volkheimer is a deliberately complex character who kills indiscriminately in war yet is Werner's friend and a lover of classical music. Outside of the war he's a person most people respect.

People kill people in war; society sanctions it. Government provides the means to do it, and citizens praise soldiers when they come home for it. So was the Nazi doing his "duty" evil, or his he a product of the times in which he lives?

If Etienne's transmission of intelligence leads to the death of German soldiers, is that "good?" If it saves Allied lives, is that what justifies it? It seems to be a matter of perspective.

All the characters in the story are sure they are doing the right thing. The Allies win and the Axis powers lose; maybe that is what determines what is good and bad. Perhaps the ultimate conclusion of the book, though I don't know that I agree, is that sometimes societies have to do evil things, like war, to prevent even more evil things from happening like exterminating the Jews.