Quote 7
“They marched us through the city of Bielsko. We passed by the factory what once I owned … We passed the market where always we bought to eat, and passed even the street where we used to live, and we came ‘til the prison, and there they put us.” (I.6.157)
This is a particularly tragic scene where Vladek reflects on the radical changes his life went through,
Quote 8
“And the fat from the burning bodies they scooped and poured again so everyone could burn better.” (II.2.62)
Just one of the many nightmarish images of brutality in the book. The human body is stripped of everything that makes it recognizably human, reduced to bones and fat. Even dead, the captive Jews are not allowed the smallest dignity.
Quote 9
“We lay on top of the other, like matches, like herrings. I pushed to a corner not to get crushed … High up I saw a few hooks to chain up maybe the animals.” (II.3.75)
Considered racially inferior, the Jews are treated like animals. This is one of many scenes where Jews are held in structures or cars that were initially built for animals.