INTERVIEW WITH MARKUS ZUSAK, AUTHOR OF THE BOOK THIEF -Jasmin Delilovic

I was Googling The Book Thief and found an interview with Markus Zusak at a book festival called the Hay Festival. It's quite interesting to finally hear from the author of the book we've been reading for quite a while now. Please check it out at http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/video/2009/may/29/hay-festival-markus-zusak

Ms. L's Thoughts

Thanks for your insights and perspectives on the Holocaust and The Book Thief! I have learned and thought about many different things as I read your words.

I want to highlight a few great insights:

1. Elise made a deeper connection to the Greek meaning of Holocaust "destruction by fire" to our book, but to the Nazi's actions as well. Here are her words again, because she said it so well.
"Death, the narrator of The Book Theif informs us that Nazis love to burn things. The first thought that came to mind was the burning of the bodies that lined the walls of the death camps scattered about Europe. More deeper in the meaning of the word "Holocaust" was the idea of burning any "dangerous" reading material. Book burnings were commonly used to destroy any written object that might stir up rebellion. It even happened on the Furhers birthday, as shown in The Book Theif. I thought about how we are taught from an early age that reading is a key to a most wonderful freedom, the freedom of our minds. The Nazis were all about gaining complete control of their realm and found that destroying the books of the people was a powerful weapons that forced them to stay under control. Uniformed people are easy to control, but people who have their right minds about them will know what must be done to break free of the evil force consuming them. Scary?"~Elise Scott

2. Alex Crowell was very observant and noticed that Josef Goebbels, was also alluded to as a cat in the book. Read the specifics here: http://honors8.blogspot.com/2009/11/holocaust-search-alex-crowell.html

3.Dallas Anderson defined "pogroms" for us, which we read about in the Kristallnacht reading. He said, "Pogrom is a Russian word meaning “to wreak havoc, to demolish violently.”

Well done guys! Keep up the good work.

Holocaust Exploration

Below are a few great websites to explore on our topic of the Holocaust. There is much depth and insight on all of these pages. I look forward to seeing what struck and enlightened you!

Reminder of assignment: Post three insights or new things you learned, followed by a paragraph connecting the information you found and explored to The Book Thief. (Posted by Tues., Nov. 17th)

Holocaust Websites:

Holocaust Museum (endless information):
http://www.ushmm.org/

Anne Frank- the writer: http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/af/htmlsite/index.html

Voices of the Holocaust
http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/voices/holocaust.html

An Auschwitz Alphabet
http://www.spectacle.org/695/ausch.html

The Holocaust: A Tragic Legacy
http://library.thinkquest.org/12663/