Contents
Chapter 56 - The Idiot and the Coat Men
Overview
Hans Hubermann endures agonizing guilt after aiding a Jewish prisoner, awaiting the Gestapo who never come. Liesel prays and witnesses Hans’s public shaming and despair. Weeks later, two black-coated agents arrive, but bypass the Hubermanns and visit the Steiners—revealing that Rudy, not Hans, is the target.
Summary
That night after the parade, Hans Hubermann sits in the kitchen, devastated and expecting arrest for giving bread to a Jewish prisoner. Rosa urges him to bed, and Liesel listens at the doorway, praying in her room for Max’s survival as Hans repeats his regret and longing for a cigarette.
At dawn, Liesel wakes Hans, who is shocked the authorities have not come. He condemns his own “stupid kindness,” and Liesel tries to defend him. Days pass without a knock. Hans roams Molching under scorn—Frau Diller spits and calls him a “dirty Jew lover”—and he haunts the Amper River, seeking meaning, even finding a note there.
By the bridge, Hans asks Liesel if she sees Max in the water. Liesel imagines Max’s face in the ripples and recalls his basement battles with the Führer. Hans names himself both stupid and kind, admitting he wants them to come to validate that Max’s departure had purpose. Regret defines the household.
Nearly three weeks later, Liesel spots two men in long black coats and races inside to warn her parents. Hans goes out to meet them, ready for punishment. The men consult their notebooks and dismiss him as “a little old for our purposes,” then proceed down the street.
The agents stop at number thirty-five, the Steiners’ house. They ask for Frau Steiner and request to talk. The reveal lands with finality: the coat men have come not for Hans—but for Rudy Steiner.
Who Appears
- Hans HubermannWracked with guilt after aiding a Jew; waits futilely for arrest; publicly shamed; yearns for vindication.
- Liesel MemingerPrays for Max, observes Hans’s despair, and alerts her parents when the Gestapo arrive.
- Rosa HubermannAttempts to pull Hans from his vigil; restrains Liesel as the agents pass.
- Max VandenburgAbsent but haunting presence; imagined in the river as the focus of Hans’s guilt.
- Gestapo coat menTwo black-coated agents who bypass Hans’s house and call on the Steiners.
- Frau DillerShopkeeper who spits at Hans and denounces him as a Jew lover.
- Frau HoltzapfelNo longer spits at the Hubermanns; Liesel returns from reading at her home.
- Frau SteinerOpens the door to the agents, who have come for her son.
- Rudy SteinerTarget of the Gestapo’s visit; the agents come to recruit or claim him.