A Polish Jew and former university professor of history, Alex Brandel is a Zionist or a person who works toward the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. He is the leader of an organization called the Bathyrans. The organization owns several farms in the Polish countryside, where young Jews go to learn the techniques of farming, so that they may use their skills to farm the land being purchased in Palestine. The Bathyrans run a Jewish orphanage as well, hoping to raise future colonists for Palestine. The Zionists are divided into many factions, and the Bathyrans constitute a more moderate and intellectual group. As the Nazis tighten their restrictions on Warsaw Jews, Brandel continues to oppose a military response, believing that quiet appeasement is the better response. Bathyran Council money must be used to buy land in Palestine and not to arm Warsaw Jews.