Contents
Chapter 54 - The Long Walk to Dachau
Overview
A convoy of Jews bound for Dachau is paraded through Molching. Liesel, Rudy, and Hans watch as starving prisoners stagger by. Hans impulsively gives bread to a collapsing man, and both are whipped. The act brands Hans as a Jew lover and heightens the danger to his family and hidden Jew.
Summary
Death clarifies that a convoy of three trucks stopped near Molching not for breakdowns but to rest, during which a starving Jewish prisoner collapsed. Soldiers decide to march the prisoners the remaining distance to Dachau, turning it into a public spectacle.
On Himmel Street, Liesel and other children hear the approaching cadence and gather on Munich Street, where an old woman identifies the procession as Jews. Hans, with his paint cart, initially tries to lead Liesel and Rudy away but allows them to watch.
The prisoners pass: emaciated, filthy, marked with Stars of David, and prodded by soldiers, some of whom are mere boys. Liesel feels helpless as defeated faces meet her gaze. An older Jewish man repeatedly falls, each time ordered to stand and barely managing to rejoin the line.
Moved beyond restraint, Hans drops Liesel’s hand, retrieves a piece of bread from his cart, and offers it to the collapsing man. The man kneels, clinging to Hans and thanking him. A soldier arrives and whips the Jew six times, then whips Hans four times, knocking him down. A passing prisoner snatches the dropped bread, sparking a scuffle among the starving.
The crowd partly assaults Hans, overturning his paint cart and calling him a Jew lover, while others help him away. Overwhelmed, Hans realizes the peril he has invited onto 33 Himmel Street and their hidden Jew, panicking over the likely consequences of his compassion.
Who Appears
- Hans HubermannOffers bread to a collapsing Jewish prisoner; is publicly whipped and branded a Jew lover, endangering his family.
- Liesel MemingerWatches the march to Dachau with Hans and Rudy, feeling helpless and horrified by the prisoners’ suffering.
- Rudy SteinerStands with Liesel; helps Hans up after the whipping; attempts to retrieve the fallen bread.
- Elderly Jewish prisonerRepeatedly collapses during the march; receives Hans’s bread; is whipped and forced to continue.
- German soldiersEscort the prisoners, enforce cruelty, and whip both the Jewish man and Hans.
- DeathNarrator who witnesses the convoy and frames the scene’s inevitability and despair.