Zusak shares his stories
WHEN acclaimed Sydney author Markus Zusak began high school at the age of 11, he came across prejudice for the first time and moments that reminded him of stories he was told by his parents who grew up in Europe during World War II.
Zusak, who famously wrote The Book Thief, shared those tales with around 500 people at JCA’s Communal East and Awards event at Royal Randwick Racecourse on Sunday, June 14.
The author recalled how at the school canteen, if a student refused to give some of their food to a fellow student, “they’d be called a Jew”.
In class, while learning about what the Nazi party was and what it stood for, one boy said the “Z” in Nazi stood for Zusak.
“I was reminded of the stories I was told growing up that became like another language to me,” he said. “When I started writing The Book Thief, this was a language that I didn’t even know I had.”
One of those stories, Zusak heard from his mother, who grew up in Munich, was about a teenage boy who gave an old Jewish man some bread on the street.
“The old man was confronted by a soldier who took the bread away and whipped him, and then chased the boy and whipped him for giving him a piece of bread,” he said. “This was something my mum would tell me about. She told it many times.”
Another was when his mother was six years old, and she and all the local kids would run to the main street to see animals that were being herded.
But “it wasn’t animals, it was people”, being taken to Dachau.
It was these stories that inspired Zusak to write a book “that means everything to me”. It has since sold eight million copies and been made into a Hollywood movie.
“It was just something that I had to do,” he said. “I’ve had so many beautiful experiences because of that; so many people have told me their stories.”
When he started researching the book, one of the “greatest gifts” was visiting the Sydney Jewish Museum.
“I think that’s one of the greatest museums in the world, and it’s just down the road,” he said. “It was just really special. I felt really privileged. I walked out of there thinking, ‘I’ve got to do a good job on this book.’”
The event also saw three awards presented to longtime community volunteers Rose Temple, Alan Joffe and Zara Young.
EVAN ZLATKIS
Markus Zusak at JCA’s Communal East and Awards night. Photo: Giselle Haber
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