Symbolism In The Book Thief

One of the most unforgettable genocides to occur was the Holocaust where 6 million Jews along with gypsies, homosexuals, and communists were killed by Hitler’s Nazi regime. It was very common for authors to have their literature’s central idea be about the Holocaust. The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, is about a German girl, Liesel, who lives in Nazi Germany and faces the inescapable pains of growing up in a time of war. Her emotional journey is one that begins with a journey. Zusak incorporates the events that occurred during the Holocaust in the book in order to show the reality that Liesel and everyone she loved had to face. Mein Kampf is highlighted throughout the novel in which it symbolizes conformity to Nazi ideology. This

When Liesel turns 10, she is admitted to the Hitler Youth, and this starts a chapter of the book in which Liesel started to feel anger towards the Nazis and Hitler. However, she is surrounded by their propaganda, guards, and rules in Molching. During Hitler’s birthday, a big celebration happens on the streets of Moching where there was going to be burning of propaganda that the enemies brought. Nazi student organizations, librarians, and professors made up long list of books they though should not be read by Germans. The Nazis go door to door asking people for material from old Germany. The Jewish houses on the Jewish street were robbed for books and other literature. Once the Nazis attacked the libraries and bookstores across Germany, at night, they would march in parades, sing changes, and throw books into huge bonfires. On that night, more than 25,000 books were burned. Liesel and many others witnessed the burning the books. “A couple of times, Liesel was a witness to men and women knocking on doors, asking people if they had any material that they felt should be done away with or destroyed” (Markus Zusak, Pg. 101). The Nazis recognized the power of words. They felt that language that contradicts their propaganda was dangerous to the country and felt that they should be

During these death marches, SS guards, also known as Schutzstaffel, brutally mistreated the prisoners. The guards would shoot hundreds of prisoners who collapsed or could not keep up with the others during the march. Many died of exposure, starvation, and exhaustion. Forced marches were especially common during the late 1944 and 1945. The SS would evacuate the prisoners from Auschwitz, Stutthof, and Gross-Rosen to Buchenwald, Flossenbürg, Dachau, and Sachsenhausen. The death marches often lasted for weeks at a time. The purpose of the evacuations of the concentration camps was the SS thought they needed to maintain production of mobilization wherever possible and did not want prisoners to fall into enemy hands alive and tell them