Shown through the characters of: Max Vandenburg Liesel Meminger Death

Max Vandenburg – a young Jewish man. Loved ones were lost and often not found. The thought of not knowing is unnerving. Genocide brought out the courage and strength of the Jews due to their will to survive. Hitler’s presence caused the Jews to be ill-treated and dehumanised. They lived in fear. Max’s survival proves to us that we are able to come out on top of any situation.

We feel sympathetic towards the Jews and see the Nazi’s as the “bad guys”.

Liesel – as she views the marching of the Jews. “When was the last time we took these rats out for some fresh air...it’s perfect weather for a parade.” -Dehumanisation. Small gestures can be a rekindling of hope. Death is not the only outcome. There was no consideration of human rights. This idea is meant to disgust and disturb us enough to prevent genocide from reoccurring. Genocide causes fear and misery.

Death – the first time he visits Auschwitz. We are incredibly disgusted by the death camp as even Death, who is accustomed to people dying, is disturbed. -”I shiver when I remember – as I try to de-realise it.” “Even the clouds tried to look away”. -We are exposed to something non-living with no emotion, wanting to ignore the death camps. “The were French, they were Jews, and they were you. -Gives realisation that over six million HUMAN lives were lost.

Max, Liesel and Death expose us to the destructive and consuming nature of genocide and how nauseating genocide and its wider effects are.