One character who really caught my imagination was Frau Elena, the Alsatian nun who ran the orphanage in Zollverein. The professional welfare state with its certified unionized helpers has largely replaced people like her, driven by faith, but the idea of individuals who devoted their lives to helping the helpless is captured in this saintlike character. Frau Elena is the reason why Werner and Jutta understand French in the first place and can understand the radio broadcasts by Etienne’s brother.
I also read Volkheimer’s taking of boots, etc. from prisoners a little differently. The huge Volkheimer, like the radio savant Werner, is an outlier, a freak (in a physical rather than a cognitive or psychological sense). His clothes and shoes wouldn’t last without him finding replacements elsewhere. He wasn’t going to get new kit from Berlin while serving on the Eastern front. He did what he had to do to survive, like everyone else.