Liesel and Max both have families that have either died or have been taken away. For Liesel, her father and mother were communist. The germans took them away and sent Liesel and her little brother to the Hubermanns house. But Liesel's brother died on the train going to the Hubermanns. “We know, of course, that the boy didn’t make it” (19). For Max it was because he had a jewish family. He lost his whole family to the german soldiers. Both Max and Liesel went to the Hubermanns house for safety and a place to sleep.
Liesel’s life gives purpose to Max because she is a link