because he
had
fled to the mountains to
avoid
joining Hitler's
army,
Thaler
was
actually very invested
in
Christianity.
His
biggest
two inspirations
were
his
family
and his beliefs, many
times when
he
was
down
and
felt
like just giving in
and
dying,
he
would
pray
that
he
would
once
again
return
home again
to
see
his
family:
"He
was
a
deeply
religious
person. We
often prayed together
and
not
all
secretly
or
quietly" (Thaler
L4O).ln this
he speaks
of
a
comrade
he
met
after
being
liberated
by
the Americans that
was
from
Sarn
Valley,
the
same
place
Thaler
had
come
from. This
was
just
one example
of
the
times Thaler prayed
during
his
time
in
Dachau
and
Hersbruck.
The
historical
time period
of
this book
is essential
to know
about. This
memoir
is
based
all around
the
time
period
actually.
As I have
mentioned many
times earlier, this book
is based
around
the
time
of
the
Holocaust and
the
Second
World
War.
Franz
Thaler started
his
wretched
journey
to
Dachau on
the
twenty
third
of
Septemb
er
in t944,
He
returned
home
after
a
long,
life altering
experience
on
August
14th
7945.
Thaler almost
spent
an
entire year fighting
for
his
life
in
Dachau.
The
world
"Holocaust"
actually
comes
from two
Greek
words, "holos"
which
means
whole,
and "kaustos"
which
means
burned.
Back
in the
time
of
Ancient
Greece
this
term
was
used
to
describe
a
sacrifice and
a
burning
of
an
altar. Then,
in
the
times
of
Hitler, it took
on
a
much worse,
more terriszing
definition.
A
lot
of
the
times
people
think that
Hitler's
act
was
the
first
to
want
to
take down
the
Jews,
but
it
was
not: "Though
use of
the
term
itself
dates
only to
the
1870s,
there
is
evidence
of
hostiiity toward
lews
long before
the Holocaust-even
as
far
back
as
the ancient
\\'orld"
[History.com,
The Holocaust).
It
is
said
that
Roman
authorities burned
and
destroyed the
main
Jewish
temple in
|erusalem. Then,
there
was
a
peace
treaty in
the
seventeenth and
eighteenth
centuries,
and
tolerance towards religious beliefs
\-,"as
put forth
sffongly.
The
Second
World War started quite
a
short
time
after the
first,
only
two
cecaiies
later.
This
rvas said
to
be
the
most
horrible
and gruesome
war
in
history to
=ls
rial'.
Thirty
counlries were
fighting
in
World
War
II
and
the
estimates
for
how
nanv
soldiers died
in
total
go
from
fifty
million to
eighty five
million. "Hitler's
