Maus: A Survivor's Tale Warfare (The Holocaust) Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Page Number). Page numbers refer to The Complete Maus.

Quote #4

“I’m telling you, it was a tragedy among tragedies. He was such a happy, beautiful boy!” (I.4.111)

The violence toward children is particularly difficult to stomach. Young children were sent to the gas chambers because they weren’t old enough to work. And Tosha is put in the impossible position of killing her own children, and her nephew Richieu, as a kind of mercy killing.

Quote #5

“We knew the stories – that they will gas us and throw us in the ovens. This was 1944 … we knew everything. And here we were.” (I.6.159)

The horror stories Vladek hears in Quote #2 become reality when he enters Auschwitz.

Quote #6

“They registered us in … They took from us our names. And here they put me my number.” (II.1.6)

The numbers assigned to each of the prisoners further dehumanizes them.