Quotes from Ruth Klüger

Sie nahmen mich wahr und ließen mich sein, wie ich war. (Bei denen bleib ich.)

The old idea, or rather the old prejudice, that women are protected by men was so deeply ingrained in that society that they overlooked what was the most obvious, that is, that the weakest and the disadvantaged are the most exposed.

The death camps seem easier to comprehend if we put them all into the basket of one vast generalization, which the term "death camps" implies, but in the process we mythologize or trivialize them.

Freunde ergänzen einander, ergänzen heißt ganz machen, um das nötig zu haben, muß man beschädigt sein, aber wenn man es nötig hat, so kann man auch niemand brauchen, der auf dieselbe Art beschädigt ist, sondern jemand, der andere Schäden aufweist. Die Freunde füllen die Lücken, komplementär, sie holen auf, was einem fehlt, sie tun, was man versäumt hat, Verwandte tun das nicht, oder wenn, dann nur zufällig.

I fell on my feet and found my bearings because of these. I could talk to them. They listened and answered, for or against, but always weighing what they had heard, unlike my mother, who used language for manipulation, not to express an opinion or state a fact. What sounded like a fact might be a lie, and every opinion was tailored for the moment.

The the Shoah involved millions of people, it was a unique experience for each of them.

A KZ-ekben nem írtak nagy verseket. Ha nem így volna, még azt mondhatnánk, hogy a lágerek jók voltak valamire, mondjuk megtisztulásra, aminek nagy m?vészet lett az eredménye. De semmire se voltak jók.

I could be proud to have survived what some have called the asshole of creation, proud that it held me and couldn't keep me. But it is dangerous nonsense to believe that anyone contributed much to her own survival.

minds can't be set like clocks.

How are we ever going to understand what happens when a civilization comes apart at the seams, as it did in Germany, if we fail to see the most glaring distinctions, such as the gender gap?

In class I was out of place because I could so easily be distracted from concepts by metaphors and facts. Clearly, I was less intelligent than I had hoped, and I felt frustrated by an inarticulate notion that something was wrong if old material was processed as if the immediate past and the uncertain future had no bearing on it.

For shame doesn't arise from the shameful action, but from discovery and exposure.

the more we have to put up with, the less tolerant we get

fear feels like sand on your tongue

I have just described an unforgettable event in my life, and yet I hardly ever get a chance to speak of it. It doesn't fit the framework of social discourse.

It had been an occasion for reminiscing, but there are limits. And so my childhood falls into a black hole.

I used to think that after the war I would have something of interest and significance to tell. A contribution. But people didn't want to hear about it, or if they did listen, it was in a certain pose, an attitude assumed for this special occasion; it was not a partners in a conversation, but as if I had imposed on them and they were graciously indulging me.

The Shoah involved millions of people, it was a unique experience for each of them.

Wars, and hence the memories of wars, are owned by the male species. And facism is a decidely male property, whether you were for or against it. Besides, women have no past, or aren't supposed to have one. A man can have an interesting past, a woman only indecent.