The Collector
- Hans and Alex don't go into battle.
- Alex goes to Austria and mends clothing for soldiers.
- Hans goes to Stuttgart (where Max is from) and then to Essen, Germany.
- He's in the "LSE—Luftwaffe Sondereinheit—Air Raid Special Unit" (65.2).
- This is the job of cleaning up the mess after the air raids.
- This includes collecting the dead bodies after an air raid.
- This is what LSE really stands for "Leichensammler Einheit—Dead Body Collectors" (65.3).
- The sergeant in charge of Hans asks him what he did to get this terrible job.
- Hans explains that he'd given bread to a Jew.
- The sergeant tells him, "You're lucky to be alive" (65.4).
- The crew of twelve, which Hans is a part of, meets every morning and gets into the truck.
- Everybody has their own seat.
- A man named Reinhold Zucker has a middle seat further up.
- Hans is given a seat at the back of the truck.
- On the day of the first air raid, Hans works with a crew of four amidst the wreckage.
- People are looking for their loved ones.
- Hans helps an old man stand up, just as Death comes for the man's soul.
- At one point, Hans finds the body of a boy who looks about twelve.
- Soon a woman comes looking for her son, a boy of twelve.
- One of the soldiers keeps her from looking at the body Hans has found.
- The woman goes away, calling "Rudy!" (65.60).
- Hans thinks of Rudy Steiner and prays he's okay.
- Later he writes a very short letter to Liesel and Rosa telling them he's okay.
- He'll tell them everything when he sees them.
- His hands won't stop shaking.