How we cite our quotes: Chapter.Paragraph
Quote #7
If you had asked Josef Potocki to describe himself before he entered Sachenhausen, he would have said: "I am a Pole educated in Cambridge, a poet and a playwright, a member of the minor aristocracy, a man of literate tastes, master of five languages…and a gourmet cook." He would never have mentioned sexual preferences....After Sachenhausen he would have said, "I am a fag." (26.14-26.15)
For Josef, the war wasn't just about the way in which he was treated by other people. It changed his very sense of self.
Quote #8
"I am with child," she said. "And I will not let it die." So they forged papers for her in the name of Eve Potocki, and Josef gave her his stepfather's ring and his passport photograph in case she needed further corroboration. She would be a Polish princess traveling incognito, he told her. (30.55)
Polish princess traveling incognito sounds a lot better than refugee from the Holocaust. No wonder Gemma was so into the whole "Briar Rose" thing.
Quote #9
"Do you want your ring back?" Becca asked. "Or your photograph?" "Oh no. I gave it to her as corroboration for her story. And now it belongs to you for yours." (32.45)
Later, Becca wears the ring on a chain around her neck. Clearly she agrees with Josef that it's an important part of her own story. Or she just liked it as a fashion statement.