How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from The Sound of Music.
Quote #1
HERR ZELLER: I suppose you noticed the obvious display of the Austrian flag in the hallway?
Herr Zeller, the local Nazi party chief, is honked off about the captain's display of the Austrian flag. He wants the Captain to stop clinging to his silly patriotic ideas and embrace the arrival and increasing power of the Germans. The pro-Nazi characters have a sense of invincibility and believe that the occupation is an inevitable reality, so everyone should just deal with it.
Quote #2
BARON: Is there a more beautiful expression of what is good in this country of ours than the innocent voices of our children?
HERR ZELLER: Oh, come now, baron. Would you have us believe that Austria alone holds the monopoly on virtue?
CAPTAIN VON TRAPP: Herr Zeller, some of us prefer Austrian voices raised in song to ugly German threats.
A little later at the captain's ball, Captain von Trapp and Herr Zeller get into a snippy exchange. Given what we know about how the Nazis often dealt with their opponents, the captain is showing some serious chutzpah.
Quote #3
HERR ZELLER: Perhaps those who would warn you that the Anschluss is coming—and it is coming, Captain—perhaps they would get further with you by setting their words to music.
In the same conversation, Herr Zeller sarcastically suggests that Captain von Trapp is ignoring the reality around him. According to Zeller, Austria is 100 percent going to end up annexed to Germany. The character of the captain is a stand-in for the resistance movement in general.