Lazarre Krispis: The Moral Center of The Little Liar

Overview

Lazarre Krispis is the patriarch of the Krispis family in Mitch Albom’s The Little Liar. As the grandfather of protagonist Nico Krispis, Lazarre embodies the story’s moral foundation. He is the character who introduces Nico to the value of truth and the Jewish concept of chesed shel emet—true and loving kindness, often associated with acts of burial and care for the dead performed without expectation of reward. Though Lazarre appears in only a few scenes, his teachings echo throughout the novel, shaping Nico’s early innocence and later guilt. He serves as a foil to the lies that eventually consume his grandson.

Plot Role

Lazarre’s primary function is as a teacher and moral anchor. In the years before the Holocaust, he imparts lessons about honesty and tradition to young Nico. In a key memory from 1938, during the wedding of his daughter Bibi, Lazarre explains to seven-year-old Nico that tradition “is how you know who you are,” and he reinforces Nico’s Jewish identity. This scene establishes the family’s warmth and normality before the war disrupts everything.

Later, in the Auschwitz infirmary in January 1945, the narrative shows a broken Lazarre, blind and dying. When Nico, disguised as a Red Cross doctor, finds him, Lazarre does not recognize his grandson. He reveals that the rest of the family has been killed—including Nico’s parents, siblings, and uncle—and that he believes only Sebastian survives. This moment is the turning point where Nico, overwhelmed by guilt, abandons the hope of redemption and doubles down on his life of lies.

Lazarre dies offstage between the liberation and Sebastian’s return to Salonika in 1946. Sebastian learns from a fellow survivor that Lazarre perished in the infirmary. That news leaves Sebastian alone to reclaim the family home.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Lazarre’s motivations are rooted in love, faith, and a commitment to communal tradition. His actions consistently show:

Devotion to Jewish practice: At the wedding, he lifts Nico and declares he wants another child “like this one,” emphasizing the continuity of the Jewish people. He corrects Nico’s belief that gods live on Mount Olympus, stating “There is only one God.”
Strength and optimism: In 1941, when his son Lev warns that German fascism could spread to Greece, Lazarre dismisses the danger, pointing to the many Jewish newspapers and synagogues in Salonika. He insists, “No one can destroy such things”—a belief that later proves tragically naive.
Endurance in suffering: In the infirmary, though blind and emaciated, Lazarre still asks after his grandson Sebastian. He weeps without tears, but he does not rage. His quiet grief shows a man who maintained his dignity even as his world was annihilated.

These traits are explicitly presented in the text; they are not merely speculative. The narrator, Truth, describes Lazarre as a “vibrant, cheerful, barrel-chested grandfather” before the war, emphasizing his physical and spiritual vitality.

Chronological Arc

1938 (Chapter 7): Lazarre and his wife Eva celebrate the marriage of their last child, Bibi. The family dances, eats, and walks along the esplanade. Lazarre speaks of tradition and Jewish identity. He appears strong, happy, and fully present.
1941–1942 (implied between chapters): The family experiences increasing persecution. The Black Sabbath in Liberty Square (1942) and the German occupation force evacuations. Lazarre likely remains with the family.
1943: The family is deported to Auschwitz. Lazarre survives the initial selection but ends up in the infirmary, probably due to starvation and age-related illness.
January 1945 (Chapter 30): Liberation of Auschwitz. Nico finds Lazarre in the infirmary. He is blind, covered in pus, and barely alive. He believes all his loved ones except Sebastian are dead. Nico lies about being a Red Cross doctor and leaves.
Early 1946 (Chapter 31): Sebastian learns that Lazarre died in the infirmary. The exact cause is not given, but the context suggests disease or starvation. Lazarre’s death removes the last moral compass from the Krispis family.

Relationships

With Nico: The bond is central. Lazarre’s teaching that “God is always watching” and that Nico should never lie forms the basis of Nico’s early truthfulness. However, that same lesson becomes a source of crushing guilt when Nico later lies to the Nazis. In the infirmary, Nico cannot bring himself to reveal his identity because he blames himself for the family’s deaths. Lazarre’s love is unconditional, but Nico’s shame prevents him from receiving it.

With Sebastian: Lazarre shows favoritism toward Nico at Bibi’s wedding, saying he wants “another one like this” while Sebastian watches silently. This moment seeds Sebastian’s lifelong envy. Yet, in the infirmary, Lazarre asks only about Sebastian, suggesting that in extremis, he loves his eldest grandson equally. The text does not explain this shift, but it can be interpreted as Lazarre clinging to the last thread of his family.

With Lev and Tanna: As father and father-in-law, Lazarre offers counsel and hope. He reassures Lev, but his optimism proves ill-founded. His relationship with his son is affectionate but ultimately unable to protect the family.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Teaching Nico absolute truthfulness: Lazarre’s well-intentioned lesson that lies are forbidden leads Nico to become famously honest. But later, when Nico is forced to lie to survive, the betrayal of that principle causes him to lose his sense of self. The consequence is a life of pathological lying.
Dismissing the Nazi threat: In 1941, Lazarre tells Lev, “They will get rid of him soon,” referring to Hitler. This decision not to flee or prepare leaves the family vulnerable. While the outcome may have been the same regardless, the text suggests that Lazarre’s faith in Salonika as a “Jewish city” prevented earlier action.
Nico’s lie in the infirmary: Although it is Nico’s decision, Lazarre’s earlier teaching directly influences it. Nico cannot face his grandfather with the truth, so he walks away. This perpetuates the cycle of guilt and hiding.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Deception vs. Truth: Lazarre is the embodiment of truthful living before the war. His character shows how truth can be a source of purity, but also how its absolute form can be weaponized by guilt.
Guilt and Redemption: Lazarre’s death is the event that solidifies Nico’s guilt and prevents his redemption. Nico’s later life as a liar is a direct flight from the memory of that infirmary scene.
Sacrificial Love: Chesed shel emet is the ultimate selfless act. Lazarre teaches Nico this concept by example—he loves without expectation, even when blind and abandoned, asking only for the safety of his family.
Memory and Forgetting: Lazarre fades from Nico’s public life but haunts him. For Sebastian, the memory of his grandfather drives his return to Salonika and his confrontation with the man who now owns the family home.
Justice vs. Revenge: Lazarre does not live to see any form of justice. His quiet death suggests that for many Holocaust victims, justice never came. His legacy is not revenge but the tradition of kindness.

5 Book-Specific Questions and Direct Answers

1. What is chesed shel emet and how does Lazarre embody it?
Chesed shel emet is the Jewish concept of true and loving kindness, often performed for the dead who cannot repay the deed. Lazarre embodies it through his unconditional love for his family and his teaching that truth is a sacred duty. In the author’s afterword, Rabbi Steven Lindemann is thanked for sharing “a true and loving kindness,” linking the phrase directly to the novel’s moral framework.

2. How does Lazarre’s advice about truth affect Nico’s later choices?
Lazarre tells Nico, “Never be the one to tell lies,” and “God is always watching.” This instills a strong conscience, but after the war breaks him, Nico feels so guilty about the lies he told to survive that he cannot bear to reveal his identity to his dying grandfather. He chooses to walk away and maintain his false identity rather than face the truth.

3. Why does Lazarre only ask about Sebastian when Nico finds him in the infirmary?
The text states that Lazarre says, “I have a grandson… His name is Sebastian. He’s all I have left.” This indicates that Lazarre believes everyone else—including Nico—is dead. In that moment of despair, he clings to the only name he thinks still lives. The novel does not explain how he came to this belief, but the implication is that news of deaths in the camp led him to that conclusion.

4. What is the significance of Lazarre’s blindness at the end of his life?
Lazarre’s blindness is both physical and symbolic. He cannot see that his beloved grandson is standing before him. It reflects the theme of truth being hidden or unrecognized. The “grayish goo” over his eyes suggests illness and the decay of hope. His inability to see Nico’s face parallels Nico’s inability to see himself truthfully.

5. How does Lazarre’s death impact Sebastian after the war?
Sebastian learns of Lazarre’s death from a survivor at a displaced persons camp; he is denied permission to search for the body. This loss leaves Sebastian emotionally hollow. When he returns to Salonika and finds a stranger living in the family home, the accumulation of grief—including Lazarre’s death—leads him to physically attack the new occupant. That rage is a direct consequence of losing his last anchor.

For further exploration of these themes, see the character overview of The Little Liar, the analysis of deception vs. truth, and the ending explained. Additional discussion can be found in the questions and answers.