The Book Thief War Quotes

Hans' punishment for giving a Jewish man bread is being forced to join the army. But, he isn't put on the battlefield. Rather, he's given the job of cleaning up wreckage and dead bodies after air raids.

We come to understand that there is terrible fighting going on in Stalingrad, Russia, in large part through the character of Michael Holtzapfel, who comes home to break the news of his brother's death. He's lost three fingers in Stalingrad, but can't bear to be alive when his brother is dead.

Even though we hear about this moment from the beginning of the book, the bombing of Himmel Street is still a huge shock when it happens. It's hard to take the fact that these characters we've grown so fond of have all died.