"Himself" is a reflexive pronoun. Reflexive pronouns are words ending in -self or -selves that are used when the subject and the object of the sentence are the same. They can act as direct or indirect objects. In this case, the subject and object of the sentence are the same, that is why the reflexive pronoun has been used. The pronoun is related to the proper noun "Michael".
Night by Ellie is a very good book to show historical events about Nazi Germany and how they treated territories that were occupied under Hitler. It does depict how life and living styles was like in Nazi controlled territories. That is my best shot at answering this, hope ur satisfied ;)
