Vicki Bitis

“He was not well-educated or political, but if nothing else, he was a man who appreciated fairness. A Jew had once saved his life and he couldn’t forget that. He couldn’t join a party that antagonized people in such a way. Also, much like Alex Steiner, some of his most loyal customers were Jewish. Like many of the Jews believed, he didn’t think the hatred could last, and it was a conscious decision not to follow Hitler. On many levels, it was a disastrous one.”
― Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

“war is merely a general term, a collective noun for so many individual stories. War is every individual, it is what happened to that individual, how it happened, how it changed that person’s life. For her, war is this child she had to give birth to.”
― Slavenka Drakulić, As If I Am Not There

“The school board banned one of Maya Angelou's books, so the librarian had to take down her poster.

I fished it out of the trash.

She must be a great writer if the school board is scared of her.”
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak: The Graphic Novel

“*** THE CONTRADICTORY POLITICS OF ALEX STEINER ***

Point One: He was a member of the Nazi Party but he did not hate the Jews, or anyone else for that matter.

Point Two: Secretly, though, he couldn’t help feeling a percentage of relief (or worse – gladness!) when Jewish shop owners were put out of business – propaganda informed him that it was only a matter of time before a plague of Jewish tailors showed up and stole his customers.

Point Three: But did that mean they should be driven out completely?

Point Four: His family. Surely, he had to do whatever he could to support them. If that meant being in the Party, it meant being in the Party.

Point Five: Somewhere, far down, there was an itch in his heart, but he made it a point not to scratch it. He was afraid of what might come leaking out.”
― Markus Zusak, The Book Thief