The Book Thief Chapter 65

The Collector

• Hans and Alex don't go into battle.
• Alex goes to Austria and mends clothing for soldiers.
• Hans goes to Stuttgart (where Max is from) and then to Essen, Germany.
• He's in the "LSE—Luftwaffe Sondereinheit—Air Raid Special Unit" (65.2).
• This is the job of cleaning up the mess after the air raids.
• This includes collecting the dead bodies after an air raid.
• This is what LSE really stands for "Leichensammler Einheit—Dead Body Collectors" (65.3).
• The sergeant in charge of Hans asks him what he did to get this terrible job.
• Hans explains that he'd given bread to a Jew.
• The sergeant tells him, "You're lucky to be alive" (65.4).
• The crew of twelve, which Hans is a part of, meets every morning and gets into the truck.
• Everybody has their own seat.
• A man named Reinhold Zucker has a middle seat further up.
• Hans is given a seat at the back of the truck.
• On the day of the first air raid, Hans works with a crew of four amidst the wreckage.
• People are looking for their loved ones.
• Hans helps an old man stand up, just as Death comes for the man's soul.
• At one point, Hans finds the body of a boy who looks about twelve.
• Soon a woman comes looking for her son, a boy of twelve.
• One of the soldiers keeps her from looking at the body Hans has found.
• The woman goes away, calling "Rudy!" (65.60).
• Hans thinks of Rudy Steiner and prays he's okay.
• Later he writes a very short letter to Liesel and Rosa telling them he's okay.
• He'll tell them everything when he sees them.
• His hands won't stop shaking.