Rosa Hubermann is Liesel’s foster mother, her Mama. She is a squat woman with a rough exterior, who calls Liesel a Saumensch, a female swine, and Hans a Saukerl, the male equivalent. . She does the washing and ironing for many of Molching’s wealthy inhabitants and has Liesel help her with the work, often insulting both Liesel and Hans for their uselessness around the house. When Liesel disobeys or upsets Rosa, Rosa is quick to give her a Watschen, a beating. Death, however, tells us that Rosa, surprisingly, has a very big heart, and does, in fact, deeply love both Hans and Liesel.. She also cares for Max when he is ill, and she holds Hans’s accordion at night praying for Hans’s, and everybody else’s, safe return. Still, to the outside world, she remains a cold and harsh woman. She is a complicated character, a paradox.