Ellen Rosen is a short, stocky, dark-haired, ten-year-old Jewish girl. She lives in Copenhagen, Denmark with her parents in the apartment above Annemarie's apartment. Ellen is Annemarie's best friend. Although we do not know Ellen's thoughts and feelings, we do know from Annemarie's observations that Ellen did change during the course of the novel.
Ellen is terrified when she is separated from her parents. She stays with the Johansens and when the Nazis come to the door demanding to know who she is, she courageously pretends to be Lise, Annemarie's older sister who is dead. Ellen goes with Annemarie, Kirsti, and Mrs. Johansen to Uncle Henrik's where she is soon reunited with her parents. At her parents side, "it was as if Ellen had moved . . . into a different world, the world of her own family and whatever lay ahead for them."
Ellen and her parents make it safely to neutral Sweden. After the war, Lowry does not reveal whether they return to Copenhagen, however the tone is hopeful that they will return.
