In the film *The Pianist* (2002), secrecy is the primary mechanism of survival. Nearly every character is defined by what they must hide from the Nazi occupiers, the Soviet liberators, or even their own neighbors.
### **1. Władysław Szpilman and His Family**
At the beginning of the film, the Szpilman family’s secrets revolve around protecting their remaining assets. As the German occupation tightens, they hide their valuables in specific, "tried and tested" ways:
* **Hidden Money and Jewelry:** The family debates various hiding spots for their 2,000 zlotys and a gold watch. They eventually hide the money inside a **hollowed-out window frame**, the watch **under a cupboard**, and a gold chain **beneath the fingerboard of the father’s violin**.
* **The "Silent" Piano:** While hiding in an apartment with a piano, Szpilman keeps the secret of his presence by **miming his playing**. He moves his fingers just above the keys without touching them, hearing the music in his head to avoid being heard by the German-friendly neighbors.
* **Smuggling Weapons:** While working as a slave laborer, Szpilman secretly helps the resistance by **smuggling weapons and ammunition** into the ghetto, hiding them inside bags of food (potatoes/grain) provided by "Majorek," a contact for the Polish underground.
### **2. Captain Wilm Hosenfeld**
The German officer Wilm Hosenfeld is the most significant "secret-keeper" in the film’s final act.
* **The Attic Hideout:** Hosenfeld discovers Szpilman in an abandoned building that serves as a German headquarters. Instead of reporting him, Hosenfeld **hides Szpilman in a secret loft** above the attic and regularly brings him bread and jam.
* **Moral Subversion:** Hosenfeld hides his true ideological stance from his fellow soldiers. In the film (and historically), he kept a **secret diary** expressing his shame and disgust toward the Nazi regime, writing that the Germans would be "forever covered with shame" for the mass murder of Jews.
* **The Gifted Coat:** In their final meeting, Hosenfeld gives Szpilman his **German military greatcoat** to keep him warm. This secret gift nearly costs Szpilman his life when Polish troops mistake him for a Nazi officer because of the uniform.
### **3. The Polish Resistance and Protectors**
* **Janina and Andrzej Bogucki:** This couple, along with other friends like Dorota and her husband, keep the **secret of Szpilman’s various "safe houses."** They provide him with falsified documents and bring him food at extreme personal risk; under Nazi rule, hiding a Jew carried an automatic death penalty for the entire household.
* **The Secret Doctor:** When Szpilman develops jaundice and nearly dies, his protectors bring a **doctor who treats him in secret**. The doctor must enter the apartment clandestinely and treat a patient who "doesn't exist" in the eyes of the law.
### **4. Other Characters**
* **Itzhak Heller (Jewish Ghetto Police):** Heller hides his own sense of guilt or lingering loyalty to Szpilman by **secretly pulling him from the deportation line** at the Umschlagplatz. While thousands of others (including Szpilman's family) are loaded onto trains for Treblinka, Heller roughly pushes Władek aside and tells him to "run," keeping his act of mercy a secret from his fellow officers.
* **The "Smuggler" Children:** Throughout the ghetto scenes, children are shown **smuggling food through secret gutters** and holes in the wall. One harrowing scene depicts a boy being beaten to death while stuck in a small hole, trying to keep his smuggling route secret from the guards.