At
this
time
he
was
very poor
and
lonely. Eventually,
the Nazis threaten his
family
and
Thaler turns
himself in.
He is
sent
to
Dachau
as
a
punishment
and
is
sentenced
for
ten
years.
The
years
that
followed
had Thaler
traveling from prison
camp
to
prison
camp.
First
he
was
sent
to
Dachau, the
worst
camp he
experienced. When
he
first
arrived
it
was
clean
and
organized.
You
have
to
understand
that the
Germans
were
very scientific
and
organized
when
it
came
to
the process
of
distributing food, clothing, toiletries, or
even
death sentences.
Although
the camp was clean,
it
was
freezing
and
there
was
no
room
for
sitting
down. Food
and beverages
were
scarce.
Thaler
quickly
leamed that
work
was
the
only
was
to
earn
food. He
and
the
fellow
traitors wore different
clothes
from
the
Jews.
"He
explained
to
me
the regulations
which
applied there
and
ordered
me
to
follow
them
very strictly
because
every
breach
would
be
punished
severely" (Thaler
73).
In
the
final third
of
the
story,
Thaler is
finally
liberated by the
Americans
and
feels unimaginable
joy.
Some
Italians
and
him
go
into
the
SS
barracks, searching
for
food. They
stumble upon
some
new clothing
and
quickly
change
out
of their
bug-infested
clothes
and
into
the guard
clothing.
When the
Americans
find
them,
they
mistake them
for Nazis
and
almost
shoot
them!
When they realize that
they
are
all
skinny
and
limping,
they
send
them
to
camps
where they
wait for
6 days
without
any
food.
Thaler is
in
terrible condition
and
wants
to
die.
His
toes are
frostbitten
and he has
lice. He's
extremely
dirfy
and
he's freezing
because he
has
no
provisions
except
a
coat
that another
man gives
him.
Filally,
Thaler retums home
a
reunites
with
his
family.
But,
it's
not
over
yet.
At
church, Thaler
has
to smile
and compress
the hatred
he
feels
for
the
people that
tumed
him
in. "When
we
came nearer he
went up
to
me
smiling, in
his usuai
way,
and
offered
to
shake
my
hand by
way
of
greeting,
to
which
I
responded,
After
he
had
said
'Franz,
hello, how
are
you?'
he immediate turned
to
my
siblings
and
said:
'Now
you
can
no longer threaten
me w-ith
retaliation" (Thaler
161). He
has
to
endure
having everything
taken
auar-from him,
and
that's
w-hat
makes
him
such
an
amazingperson, being
able
to
tbrgive
evil.
but not forget.
This
book is
set
in
Europe
from
1939-1945.It
was
a
continuation of
the
First
\\
orld \\-ar.
Hitler
\\-as
a
very
brave
soldier in
WWI
and
so
people believed that
he
really
rras
good.
Also.
Germany was
suffering
greatly
and
went into
economic depression. He
