Darya Silman

“Violence meant to seize and shore up power—a claim to sovereignty through the violence of the mob—is fundamentally American.”
― Kathleen Belew, Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past

“An occupation numbs a city’s vitality, the vitality that makes urban life attractive. Soon the citizen begins to feel alienated, disconnected from a familiar environment; though he is still physically engaged with the city, his emotional attachment to it weakens. Previously confident of his urban sophistication, which had allowed him to navigate a complex environment, he becomes tentative, anxious, angry, and impatient as he wonders how long before “his” city returns to him. One of the ironies is that an occupied city brings its citizens closer together physically—in lines, in movie houses, in cafés for warmth, in smaller living spaces, in crowded buses and trains—but separates them emotionally and sentimentally.”
― Ronald C. Rosbottom, When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940-44

“- Брось старина, не валяй дурака. Подпиши эту гадость, - сказал Хедрон, склоняясь над Кругом и опуская кулак с трубкой ему на плечо. - Много ли она значит, в конце-то концов? Поставь свою коммерчески ценную закорючку. Брось! Никто не тронет наших кругов, - но где-то же нужно нам их рисовать.
- Не в грязи, сэр, не в грязи, - сказал Круг, улыбнувшись первой за этот вечер улыбкой.
- Да ну, не будь надутым педантом, - сказал Хедрон. Зачем тебе нужно, чтобы я чувствовал себя так неловко? Я подписал, и мои боги не шелохнулись.
Не поднимая глаз, Круг поднял руку и тронул твидовый рукав Хедрона.
-Все в порядке, - сказал он. - Пока ты рисуешь свои круги и показываешь моему мальчику фокусы, черта ли мне в твоей морали.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, Bend Sinister

“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