Thesis Statement For The Book Thief

Research Paper: Formal Outline

People Who Helped in Hidden Ways

Topic: Germans that helped the Jewish people during World War II

Working thesis statement: Helping Jewish people was very dangerous in Nazi Germany during World War II because of Hitler’s bigoted nationalism, yet numerous Germans civilians and soldiers assisted a Jew in some way during the time of war. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Liesel’s fictitious family and friends help Jewish people in the same ways that real life Germans helped Jewish people to hide and escape during World War II.

Rolling Introduction

Introduction Paragraph #1

Introduction Paragraph #2

Element #1: Religious intolerance and persecution of the Jewish people was common in Nazi Germany; however, there

Though they both played an important role, Werner’s work is known most prominently. When Werner saw the Jewish quarter empty because the Jewish people were rounded up and deported, he was shocked because they were innocent people who had done nothing wrong. He felt as though he had to do something so he began forging papers to save people (Betsalel).

Together, Werner and Johannes helped hundreds of people in small towns escape from the Nazis by replacing their religion, names, and dates in papers.

People in the army like Klemke and Gerhardt used their position as an advantage to help the Jewish people. Soldiers like them aided the resistance, but higher ranking officials like Georg Duckwitz used their power to do good as well.

Support #2: Georg Duckwitz was a German trade attaché in Denmark. “[Duckwitz] alerted the Danish government… the Danish underground in turn implemented the rescue of more than 7,000 Danish Jews” (“Diplomats Who Saved Jews”).

Almost all of the Jewish community in Denmark was saved because of Georg Duckwitz’s decision to inform the government about the Gestapo’s planned

Liselotte explains how she felt when laws were being passed against the Jewish people: “But then the Jewish law got more severe and they instated a death penalty for anyone who housed Jews or gave them a piece of bread. I was warned by the Poles, but I had to help” (Hassenstein).

Though the punishment was severe, Liselotte and her husband felt that helping the Jewish people was the right thing to do, and they continued to until they were arrested.

Many German people decided to help the Jewish people because they felt that it was morally correct and they felt guilty for the Nazis’ actions.

S#2: In Berlin, a housewife named Johanna Eck also hid Jewish people in her small apartment. Johanna was acquainted with Heinz Guttman’s family for many years, until all of them except Heinz were deported. Johanna took him with great kindness: “Eck alone, of all of [Heinz’s] non-Jewish acquaintances, stood by him in this difficult moment, offering him refuge in her home, and sharing her meager food allowance with him” (Johanna Eck”).

Heinz was only one of four people that Johanna Eck hid in her home. She worked very hard to get food rations, hiding places, and contacts for them, even though she risked being caught and