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“That will be only the beginning, I’m afraid. He may well draw us into another war.” Ellie looked up, horrified. “Surely not after the carnage of the last one. Neither side would think it was a good idea to go to war again.”
“All my life I’ve been sensible and reasonable. I’ve done the right thing, tried to please everybody, when nobody ever tried to find out what I wanted. I had dreams once, just like you did, Dora. Those dreams were always stifled until now.”
“Everyone is worried. Can you ask God to remove Hitler and Mussolini?” He laughed at that. “I don’t think God works in that way,” he said. “In fact, I wish I knew how he works. But I know one thing. He works through us. That’s why we are here—to be his hands and voice.”
“I can only tell you from my own experience, but I have to say that yes, there definitely is a power behind this universe. Call him what you will.
“The Italians wouldn’t be so bad, would they?” Ellie said. “They’ve always appeared so easy-going to me.” “Better than Germans, I agree, but when you see newsreels of the Fascist black-shirted bullies, you’ll know there are some in every country who enjoy throwing their weight around.
There was a time when wars at least had rules. It was trained army against trained army in a strategic battle. A certain nobility to it. But to target innocent civilians—we have all become barbarians.”
“Rounding up Jewish people like cattle. Taking them off to God-knows-where. It’s not human.
More Jewish men followed. They were always men of consequence: professors, scientists, artists, writers. It seemed unfair to Ellie that some lives were considered more valuable than others—how could anyone determine that a professor had more worth than a baker or a shoemaker?—but she understood that not all could be saved.
