Jan
Jan is one of the main characters in "The silver sword". In the story he is aged 11 and is a ragged orphan, who then gets adopted by the Balickis later on. Jan is actually a caring boy with several tricks up his sleeves. He despises any soldier, friend or not, and is willing to make a slash on their throat like he almost did to his first soldier friend, Evan, during one of the early chapters. His treasure box ,which he loves so much, contains things which are meaningful to Jan. Although it may contain some "unusual" stuff such as a dried lizard or the feather of a rooster, there is one item he values the most, the silver sword. It's a paper knife which he received for Joseph Balicki on his farewell with Joseph who set off for Switzerland for his family. Jan joined Ruth, Edek and Bronia in search of their family. Jan also has a love for animals and seems to understand them.
Edek
Edek is another main character in "The Silver Sword". In the story he is aged 13 originally and later on he is aged 16. In the earlier chapters of the book, he was a lively, healthy boy with no fear who looked after Ruth and Bronia after their parents were taken away, however, he was taken away by the Nazis while looking for food and suffered very much. When Russia came to help Poland Edek was already very ill and was accommodating in the Russian treatment camp. He then meets Ruth, Bronia and Jan while trying to escape the camp and together they set off to Switzerland to find their parents. He had a cough after he got ill and could not over do himself although he wanted to. He can speak fluent German with a great accent which he learnt during his slavery for the Nazis.