This second volume picks up where Maus I left off. Artie’s father Vladek and mother Anja are captured and sent to Auschwitz. Through interviews with his father, Artie begins to understand more of what his father went through, but this understanding comes at the cost of emotionally and vicariously going through his father's experiences. Artie gets more perspective during sessions with his psychiatrist and uncovers possible reasons for his troubled relationship with his father.