Darya Silman

“It is estimated that the Jewish population in the country was about 210,000 immediately before the German occupation, though this figure may be a significant underestimate, not taking into account many unregistered Jewish refugees from Poland and elsewhere. About 8,500 Jews were able to flee east into Soviet Russia before the arrival of the Germans, and between 3,500 and 5,000 either escaped from the ghettos and concentration camps or survived to the end of the war. The rest – at least 196,500, and according to some estimates as many as 254,000 – were killed. The great majority were slaughtered by the Einsatzgruppen and their local paramilitary helpers in the first months that followed the German invasion.”
― Prit Buttar, Centuries Will Not Suffice: A History of the Lithuanian Holocaust

“One of the men in Plagge’s HKP 562 who was remembered by many of the Jews for his kindness was a Feldwebel (sergeant) from the city of Chemnitz in Saxony, named Berger – unfortunately, his first name is not known and it has proved impossible to discover his fate. He was standing with a group of Plagge’s Jewish workers when another group of Jews was marched past, on their way to Ponary. Berger exclaimed while watching the Jews being driven to their deaths: ‘What these scum perpetrate here in the name of the German people – centuries will not suffice for us to cleanse ourselves!’49”
― Prit Buttar, Centuries Will Not Suffice: A History of the Lithuanian Holocaust

“Isn’t a novel just a bunch of short stories tied together?” “Ah, how I wish it were so, George. Think of it this way. A novel is a marriage. A series of short stories is a bunch of one-night stands. The latter might always keep you active, but you wouldn’t call the sum total of all that bedhopping a relationship.”
― Jo Boyle, The Space She Made for Me: A Collection of Sapphic Short Stories

“the really significant consequence was that German troops remained south of Rome, both to disarm the Italians and to defend the Allied invasion, rather than pulling back swiftly to a defensive line to the north as Rommel – and Hitler – had planned. The terrible irony was that, had the Allies done what Ambrosio, Badoglio, Roatta and Carboni et al. had wanted and postponed the announcement – and the invasion – until 15 September, southern Italy would have been theirs for the taking. The outcome would have been the very opposite of what they had feared. What an incredible missed opportunity for the Allies! And for Italy, for that matter. But they had not known that. And so, already, the Italian campaign was starting to play out in a very different way to how all parties had envisioned.”
― James Holland, The Savage Storm: The Heroic True Story of One of the Least told Campaigns of WW2