July 25, 1940
Dear Journal,
I was nearly asleep when I overheard mama voice. Out of curiosity, I snuck into the kitchen. The first thing I noticed that mama was yelling at papa, which is hardly unusual. When I turned my head, I saw a strange man staying by the door with a book in one hand and a suitcase in another. This caught me off guard, causing me the verbally express my thoughts. Mama scolded me for nearly 10 minutes before she reentered the kitchen. Unbeknownst to her, I silently followed. I witnessed mama standing over the strange as he devour her disgusting pea soup without a single complaint. I thought this would make her glad, but she seemed very worried instead. It did not take long for the soup to work its magic; a few moments later, the man was vomiting. I have no idea what is going on.
I was intent on finding out what everyone was hiding from me, but I was discovered again and then sent to my room. I crawled into bed and began thinking over the situation. At this point, I was becoming scared; mama and papa have never been so secretive before. Interrupting my train of thought, papa came and asked if I was okay. I responded, yes; even though, I was still concerned. From the hallway, I could hear him talking the man, but everything became hazy, as I was suddenly so drowsy.
It was already 8:30, in the morning, by time I woke up. I went straight to the kitchen where we ate breakfast in absolute silence. This did not last for long as mama announced that papa needed to speak with me. I went back to my room just for a moment, in order to get my clothes; I was drawn to the sleeping form of the strange man. I went to the bathroom and threw on my clothes in a haste. Luckily, I ran into papa by the doorway. Papa is usually both cheerful and calm, but today, he was neither of these things. He said that he needed to tell me something. Although, I already knew he was keeping a something from me, I did not hurt any less. Papa explained to me that the strange man was the child of a Jewish man that saved his life during World War I. This was the same man that gave papa his prized accordion as a memento. I always had wondered why he kept it since he barely made any money playing it at bars. This made feel unbarably guilty, so he decided to help the man's widows. It was only apporiate to trade a life for a life; therefore, papa made a promise with the soldier's wife to protect their son if the need ever came. And it had. It was then that papa held my hand, whether it was for mine or his own comfort; I do not know. Moments later, papa brought up an old promise we made on Hitler's birthday; I swore to keep a secret for him. I clearly remember papa's daunting message that followed, since his voice suddenly became deep and mature: " 'Liesel if you tell anyone about the man up there, we will all be in big trouble...At the very least mama and I will be taken away...For starters, I will take each and every one of your books-- and I will burn them... I'll throw them in the stove or the fireplace... Understand? Next, they will take you away from me'"(Zusak 203).
I suppose papa wanted to make sure I was hold true to my words. I tried best to comprehend what he was saying, but it seemed as though my mind could not process this information. All I knew was that if I tell anyone about this man, bad things would happen. I guess hiding a Jewish person like Max Vandenburg, was a dangerous business.
The only thing I have left to do is keep an eye on this odd Jewish fellow.
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