Historical Background

 In order to get the most out of reading The Book Thief, you really need to understand the historical background to the novel.  In groups, pool your knowledge of Germany during World War II and the Jewish Holocaust.  Holocaust means “Completely burnt” and is used to describe the mass murder of Jews (Genocide) during WWII.

 1933  The Nazi Party takes over Germany  Adolf Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany (prime minister)  The Nazis “suspend” civil freedoms  The first concentration camp “Dachau” is set up – to imprison Communists.  Books with ideas considered dangerous to Nazi beliefs are burnt.

 1934  Hitler combines the chancellor and President role to become “Fuhrer”, or the sole leader of Germany.  Jewish Newspapers can no longer be sold in the street.

 1935  Jews are deprived of citizenship and other basic rights  Nazis intensify persecution of people with different political beliefs

 1936  Nazis boycott Jewish owned businesses  The Olympic Games are held in Germany, signs barring Jews are removed until after the event  Jews no longer have the right to vote.

 1938  On Kristallnacht, “The Night of Broken Glass”, in one night over 30,000 Jews are arrested and deported to concentration camps, synagogues were ransacked and 92 Jews were murdered.

 1938 continued  Jews must carry ID cards and passports must be marked with a “J”.  Jews could no longer run business or attend public events.  All Jewish children were removed to Jewish schools  Jewish businesses were shut down, valuables and jewels had to be handed over.

 1939  Germany takes over Czechoslovakia and invades Poland.  World War II begins as Britain and France declare war on Germany  Hitler orders that Jews must follow curfews, they must turn in radios to the police and must wear yellow stars of David.

 1940  Nazis begin deporting Jews to Poland  Jews are forced into Ghettos (confined areas)  Mass Murders of Jews begin in Poland  Jews are put into concentration camps

 1941  Germany attacks Soviet Union  Jews throughout Western Europe are forced into ghettos  Death Squads are formed to kill Jews (shooting and hand grenades) throughout Eastern Europe. By December 1941, 300,000 people were killed by these squads alone.

 1942  Nazis discuss the “Final Solution” – their plan to exterminate all the Jews in Europe.  Jews are forbidden to subscribe to newspapers, keep pets, own bicycles, buy meat or eggs, use public transport, or attend school

 1943  By February, about 80% of Jews who died in the Holocaust had been murdered. Mostly by gas chambers in Extermination Camps, otherwise by starvation or literally worked to death.

 1944  Hitler takes over Hungary and begins sending 12,000 Jews each day to Poland, where they are murdered.

 1945  Hitler is defeated and commits suicide.  Death camps are emptied  Many survivors are left without family or homes.

 It is estimated that over 6 million Jews were killed between 1933 and  7 out of 10 Jews in Europe were killed.  Millions of others were killed for other reasons: Catholics, Communists, homosexuals, the disabled, Romany Gypsies, Serbians, Jehovah’s Witnesses,  They also killed politicians, Trade Unionists, Teachers or anyone who spoke out against Hitler.

 Concentration camps were places that Jews were taken to work.  Extermination camps were places they were taken to be killed.  Some camps did both, sending those who could not work (children and the elderly) to be killed while others worked.

 Auschwitz – Birkenau Camp  Arrival at the camp, prisoners directed to the right went to work, those to the left went to the gas chambers.

 The Book Thief is set in Munich, which is in the south of Germany.  Near Munich is the Dachau Concentration Camp  The first labour camp opened by the Nazis.  The camp held over 200,000 prisoners.  25,613 people are believed to have died in Dachau due to disease, malnutrition and suicide (+ another 10,000 in subcamps)  The prisoners were also used for medical experiments.  Dachau was liberated on 29 April, 1945 by the US Army, who also found piles of corpses.

Prisoners were marched through the surrounding towns on “death marches” from Dachau, just days before liberation.

1600 people were found crammed into each of 20 barracks – originally designed to hold 250 people.

 The SS – Shutzstaffel, meaning “protection squad”, was a major Nazi organisation that was created as Hitler’s personal guard and then grew to carry out Hitler’s racist ideology. They were primarily responsible for ruling Germany by fear and the extermination of the Jews by capturing, enslaving and murdering them on mass.

 Hitler Youth – a military youth organisation that recruited young people to train them in Nazi ideals and military practices.  By 1940, it had 8,000,000 members  By 1943, the Nazi Party were recruiting the Hitler youth as manpower as they began to struggle during the war.  12 year olds were being recruited by 1945.

 Mein Kampf (My Struggle)  Book by Adolf Hitler written in 1925 while he was in prison.  It contained his political ideology as well as some elements of autobiography.  He claimed the German (Aryan) race was superior to all others and should take over the world.  The extremely racist book, focused on the inferiority and evil of Jews.  The book became the Nazi bible, 10 million copies sold by the end of the war.