Page 267 - The Book Thief

THE LOSERS

When it came to stealing, Liesel and Rudy first stuck with the idea that there was
safety in numbers. Andy Schmeikl invited them to the river for a meeting.
Among other things, a game plan for fruit stealing would be on the agenda.

So are you the leader now? Rudy had asked, but Andy shook his head, heavy
with disappointment. He clearly wished that he had what it took.

No. His cool voice was unusually warm. Half-baked. Theres someone else.

THE NEW ARTHUR BERG
He had windy hair and cloudy eyes,

and he was the kind of delinquent
who had no other reason to
steal except that he enjoyed it.
His name was Viktor Chemmel.

Unlike most people engaged in the various arts of thievery, Viktor Chemmel had
it all. He lived in the best part of Molching, high up in a villa that had been
fumigated when the Jews were driven out. He had money. He had cigarettes.
What he wanted, however, was more.

No crime in wanting a little more, he claimed, lying back in the grass with a
collection of boys assembled around him. Wanting more is our fundamental
right as Germans. What does our Fhrer say? He answered his own rhetoric. We
must take what is rightfully ours!

At face value, Viktor Chemmel was clearly your typical teenage bullshit artist.
Unfortunately, when he felt like revealing it, he also possessed a certain
charisma, a kind of follow me.