Contents
Chapter 37 - Sketches
Overview
In isolation, Max turns a painted-over Mein Kampf into a book of sketches, resolving to give it to Liesel when the war ends. Liesel secretly looks and is unsettled by the images. A brief exchange reveals Max’s awareness and the gravity of his inner world, deepening their fragile bond.
Summary
As summer 1941 closes in on Himmel Street, Max Vandenburg channels his confinement into creation. With a repurposed, painted-over copy of Mein Kampf, a few pencils, and his thoughts, he abandons a straightforward autobiography and instead drafts raw, truthful sketches that better capture his exile and displacement.
Max works page by page, sometimes quickly, sometimes for hours, keeping the book close even in sleep. He decides that when the book is finished and the war is over, he will give it to Liesel, a private promise that guides his effort.
One afternoon, after exercising, Max falls asleep in the basement. Liesel descends, finds the book against his leg, and, drawn by curiosity, opens it. The stark images and words startle her; frightened, she replaces the book exactly as she found it.
Max quietly thanks her in German, revealing he was aware of her peeking. Liesel, shaken, retreats upstairs with the thought, “You scared me, Max,” capturing both the intensity of Max’s inner life and the tentative intimacy forming between them.
Who Appears
- Max VandenburgHiding in the Hubermanns’ basement; creates sketches in a painted-over Mein Kampf, intending to gift them to Liesel.
- Liesel MemingerFinds Max asleep, peeks at his sketchbook, is frightened by its images, and is quietly acknowledged by Max.