The Little Liar by Mitch Albom begins in 1943 Greece. Nico, who is known to always tell the truth, passes on what he has heard: The Germans are merely transporting Jews to a new home where they will have somewhere to live and new jobs. But when his family is herded into train cars, normally used for transporting animals, they realize Nico had not been telling the truth. But the one most amazed was Nico, who had never before told a lie and horrified when he learns the true meaning of transporting Jews, not to a new home but to a German prison camp. Nico, with his blond hair and features that are not recognized as Jewish, is held behind by a Nazi officer and all he can do is watch the train depart into the unknown. The story follows four people: Nico, Sabastian (his brother), Fannie (their friend) and Udo Graff (the German soldier). Throughout the story, their paths constantly cross, each of the children trying to survive and Udo Graff trying to kill as many Jews as possible, seeking power and fame through his actions.
Mitch Albom tackles the problems of lying, but also shows if the children had been truthful during their ordeals, it would almost certainly have meant death for each of them. It's still difficult to believe the extent of cruelty imposed upon the Jewish people during the Nazi Regime. Power hungry rulers have downtrodden people for centuries. The older I get the more I wish people would just leave each other alone to get on with their lives with limited government interference.
But in the 1930s the German people were still recovering from the costs of WW1 and unemployment was high after the 1929 Great Depression. The Nazi Party took advantage of the discontent and put a plan into action to take over the German government. After the Enabling Act was passed, Hitler was able to govern as a dictator separately from both the German government (Reichstag) and president. He issued decrees and so began the National Socialist revolution.
As Ronald Reagan said "The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
