The Book Thief

Death talks about a physical examination of Rudy and two other students that occurred weeks before the Gestapo arrived at his home. It was embarrassing and thorough. The doctor and nurse discuss the Aryan potential of the three candidates. Rudy isn’t entirely sure what they mean.

When he later recounts the whole episode to Liesel, she can’t stop thinking about him standing naked in the examination room: “There was great dread in that vision, especially the moment when he was forced to remove his hands. It was disconcerting to say the least, but for some reason, she couldn’t stop thinking about it” (132).

Hans finally receives his real punishment for helping the Jew bound for Dachau. He receives a notice that he’s been allowed to join the Nazi party and has been drafted. The same message has been given to Rudy’s father for refusing to surrender Rudy to the Gestapo. As Rudy’s mother later says, “‘When they come and ask you for one of your children […] you’re supposed to say yes’” (134). 

The night before Alex Steiner and Hans Hubermann are due to report for duty, they get very drunk at a local tavern. After they leave for the army, both families are subdued and quiet. Even Rosa forgets to scold. Rudy is so angry that he proposes leaving town to go in search of Hitler to kill him. Eventually, Liesel calms him down, and they return home.

One night, Liesel sees her mother seated on the bed with Hans’s accordion strapped to her chest. The girl waits for Rosa to strike a key, but she never does. Instead, she falls asleep, slumped over the instrument; “Eventually, when Liesel returned to bed, the image of Rosa Hubermann and the accordion would not leave her. The book thief’s eyes remained open. She waited for the suffocation of sleep” (138).

The Nazis assign Rudy’s father to repair uniforms—an occupation close to his tailoring profession. They assign Hans to air raid patrol. This requires him to scour areas that have been bombed to repair structures, rescue survivors, and retrieve dead bodies. The duties are grim, as Hans must witness the distress of people looking for their lost loved ones. Many survivors die in his arms. He can’t bring himself to describe the sadness when he writes a letter home.

Between October and December of 1942, another parade of concentration camp prisoners comes through the streets of Molching. This time, Rudy and Liesel conspire to throw bread onto the road and hide in the bushes so that the soldiers won’t see them. Rudy has become someone who gives away bread instead of stealing it for himself.

Many of the Jews stuff the food into their mouths before the soldiers go looking for Liesel and Rudy. Liesel is almost caught, but a soldier lets her go free.

As an early Christmas present in 1942, Rosa gives Liesel the book that Max made for her before he left. It consists mainly of Max’s random thoughts and sketches. However, the collection also includes a children’s story called The Word Shaker. In it, Max talks about Hitler as a man with a brilliant plan. He would rule the world with nothing but the power of his words. These words and symbols would be planted and take root among his people: “Soon, the demand for the lovely ugly words and Symbols increased to such a point that as the forests grew, many people were needed to maintain them” (143).

Those who climb the trees to shake down more words become known as word shakers. Among them is a young girl who truly understands the power of words. She forms a friendship with a man despised by her people. Her tear of sorrow for the man causes a new tree to sprout and grow tall. When Hitler tries to chop down this tree, he fails. The girl climbs to the top and protects it from all the axe men who follow. Finally, her outcast friend climbs to the top to join her. After their reunion, the two friends climb down, and the tree falls, creating a new path in the forest. 

On Christmas Eve, Liesel says she wants to give Rudy his Christmas present. They go into his father’s tailor shop, and Liesel picks out a new suit for her friend. She declares that she’s stealing his present rather than buying it. While there, an opportunity presents for Liesel to kiss Rudy, but she hesitates at the last moment.