The Book Thief

This week I watched an outstanding and uplifting movie entitled "The Book Thief". It is about a young girl named Liesel during World War 2 who lives with her adoptive parents, Hans and Rosa Huberman in Nazi Germany. While attending school, she is asked to write her name on the chalkboard, but is only able to write three Xs revealing to her classmates that she cannot write. Her school mates taunt her and one boy challenges her to read one word to which she responds by beating him up. A neighbor boy, Rudy, befriends her and they become fast friends. She is taught to read by her kind foster father, Hans, and she begins to love books.  

Liesel and Rudy become members of the Hitler Youth movement. While at a Nazi book burning ceremony, Liesel and Rudy are harassed into throwing books into the bonfire but Liesel is upset at seeing all the books being burned. Later when the bonfire ends and everyone leaves, Liesel is still there and grabs one singed book but is seen by the mayors wife, Ilsa.  Later when she is asked to take laundry by Rosa, she realized that the woman who saw her is the mayors wife. The woman takes her to the spacious library and says she can read any book she likes. However, one day the mayor discovers Liesel there and puts a stop to her visits and fires Rosa from doing their laundry.

During the holidays, Max Vandenberg and his mother who are Jewish are told by a friend that only one of them can escape and Max's mother forces him to go. During World War I, his father had saved the life of Hans and he goes to the Huberman's house. Initially, he stays in Liesel's room where they become fast friends but later must move to the basement in order that he can move around more. It is very cold in the basement and Max becomes very ill so Liesel reads to him daily and takes care of him.

After time goes by, Hans is conscripted into the army and Max realized that in order to protect the family, he must also leave. One night when Liesel falls asleep reading in the basement, an air raid siren goes off but no one hears it. Max, Rosa, and Rudy's family are all killed in piles of brick and debris. Liesel faints and is carried on a stretcher by a soldier away from the debris. When she awakens, she sees the mayor and his wife drive up. Realizing she has only one friend left in Ilsa, she runs up and hugs her tightly.

Eventually, she discovers Max is alive and the two renew their friendship and get married.

The content of this movie was uplifting due to the values of this good German family who wanted to help others and the kindness offered to strangers. I really enjoyed watching this very much and hope to find other movies with this type of caliber.