Page 479 - The Book Thief
P. 479
THE WAR MAKER
There was the smell of a freshly cut coffin. Black dresses. Enormous suitcases
under the eyes. Liesel stood like the rest, on the grass. She read to Frau
Holtzapfel that same afternoon. The Dream Carrier, her neighbors favorite.
It was a busy day all around, really.
JULY 27, 1943
Michael Holtzapfel was buried and the book
thief read to the bereaved. The Allies bombed
Hamburgand on that subject, its lucky Im
somewhat miraculous. No one else could carry close to
forty-five thousand people in such a short amount
of time. Not in a million human years.
The Germans were starting to pay in earnest by then. The Fhrer s pimply little
knees were starting to shake.
Still, Ill give him something, that Fhrer.
He certainly had an iron will.
There was no slackening off in terms of war-making, nor was there any scaling
back on the extermination and punishment of a Jewish plague. While most of the
camps were spread throughout Europe, there were some still in existence in
Germany itself.
In those camps, many people were still made to work, and walk.
Max Vandenburg was one such Jew.
