"On the ration cards of Nazi Germany, there was no listing for punishment, but everyone had to take their turn."
Punishment appears to be an inevitable thing to everyone in Nazi Germany and it affects everyone Liesel knows. Punishment is described as something that is rationed, meaning everyone gets a small part because it is scarce. I believe that everyone seems to get a part of it, but it is most definitely not a scarce resource. Everyone Liesel has known has been punished:
Her brother - killed from undernourishment and disease.
Her mother - presumably killed in a concentration camp for being a communist.
Her father - Presumably suffered the same fate as his wife.
Max - had to escape from persecution in multiple places, and became very sick from the conditions he had to live with.
Hans Hubermann - Her step father was sent into one war, beaten by the gestapo for helping a jew, and then sent into another war for his "crimes".
Alex Stiener - also sent into a war because he would not give up his son Rudy.
Rudy's two friends - sent into the war and presumably killed or stranded.
Lisa Hubermann - lost all her customers due to the war and a son.
Clearly everyone major in this story has been punished in some way by Nazi Germany, and many have more punishment to come. Then I thought has Liesel received her punishment? You could say yes to the death of her brother, mother and father and disappearance of her best friend Max and her foster father. For the most part Liesel is not bother by the loss of her family because she has gotten over it years ago. Surprisingly she was more deeply saddened when her foster father and friend had to leave, than when her entire family died. It seems then that Liesel has received some punishment but is very good at putting it behind her. I was wondering that maybe Liesel is more attached to her foster parents and Max than she ever was to her family. She always has the best of words for her father and Max while when she speaks of her family she is depressed and dwells on the negative. I believe that Liesel's new family is one she likes best. However, since she likes it best whenever her family is punished she finds herself puished too.
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