Rafael Gareisen as Walter Kugler in The Book Thief movie.
Walter Kugler was a German boy from Stuttgart and friend of Max Vandenburg.
Appearance[]
Walter is described as being tall and rangy, at least a head taller than Max, with blond hair. It's assumed that he was fit and muscular due to his strong association with fist fights.
Biography[]
Personality[]
Although little is known about him, Walter appears to be a prideful individual. When we first meet him his ego is wounded due to the fact that Max not only beat him in a fist fight, but also managed to make him cry. He also loved to tango with max. He "walked sullenly to Max Vandenburg" when he was supposed to raise the winning boy's arm in an act of sportsmanship and tells him "next time I kill you" after Max thanks him. He also appears to hold grudges, as he's always seeking revenge for the first fight Max beat him in. However, over the course of the years that they fought he grew to respect Max and later became his close friend. He's often described as a serious individual, but a conversation he and Max had implies that he had good sense of humor.
History[]
Walter Kugler was presumably born in Stuttgart, Germany, where he grew up with Max Vandenburg. He was involved in the street fist fights and a skilled fighter. He fought Max a total of thirteen times after Max beat him, having won ten. It's fight number five against Walter that Max recalls as his favorite in The Book Thief, which was that first fight between the two that Max won.
When he and Max were seventeen the respect they held for one another had turned into friendship and they both worked until 1935, when Max was fired. Over the next three years, Walter became absorbed in his work and eventually became a member of the Nazi party, most likely to hold his job and blend in.
On Kristallnacht Walter came in Nazi uniform and took Max away from his family, telling him that the "chaos is what we need" for Max to be able to disappear. Walter hid Max for the next two years in a place where he was formerly employed and made sure to check in on Max's family as often as he could without appearing suspicious.
He went to visit Hans Hubermann in 1939 after Max's family had been taken away in hopes that he would be able to help them. He was responsible for getting Max's papers and organizing his trip to the Hubermann's.
Walter was conscripted into the German army in 1940 and sent to Poland. Nothing is said of Walter Kugler after the war in the book bar when Max tells Liesel about him while hiding in the basement. Before Max left Walter gave him a razor, a spoon, shaving cream, and a pair of scissors.