January 30th, 1933 Hilter rose to power. Thus, the start of and beginning of the holocaust began under his reign. In the Book Thief by Markus Zusak and the film Swing Kids shows that act of conformity is necessary for survival but not ethically right. Throughout the book and the movie display acts of kindness but this kindness does not go without punishment because it does not fit into society. While the fear of being different keeps the social norms alive.
In the setting of Nazi Germany, the idea of criminality is twistedly put upside down. Hitler’s laws necessitate citizens to commit crimes in contradiction of humanity, and when Liesel or Hans displays compassion to Max they are inhospitably chastised. In the book thief the act of going out
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The fact leading into the support of the Nazi Party in the book, The Book Thief, “In 1933, 90 percent of Germans showed unflinching support for Adolph Hitler.” (Zusak, 63). The Startling statistic showed the support given to Hitler. The question remains: what about the other 10%? The 10% shows the other part that did not support Hitler. Because of the fear of being punished or taken away led the 10% to conform or face the consequences. In the book the author Zusak uses the denotation of the two words: proud and afraid to show what fear can do. Max on his way to Himmel street tells him self, “Look proud, he advised himself. You cannot look afraid. Read the book. Smile at it. It's a great book – the greatest book you've ever read. Come on, Max, you're only a few hours away.” (Zusak, 158). Fear is like an infection. It spread like wildfire until someone catches it and trys to extinguish you. Later, we also see in the movie at the end of swing kids when the main character is taken away. This seen his best friend turns him in because of the fear of not conforming to society because of the punishments that might come with