The Story of Blima Quotes

“Besides, what is pretty, anyway?” she continues. “Eyes? What does the color matter, as long as the ones you love can see themselves shining there? A mouth? Wide or narrow, so long as it speaks the truth.”
― Shirley Russak Wachtel, The Story of Blima: A Holocaust Survivor

“When I stop thinking of my neighbor as “Alan” and begin thinking of him as “a Jew,” or “a Muslim,” or “a foreigner” or “a member of another race,” it is easier for me to be unkind to him. From there, it’s not such a big step to think of him as a thing, not a person—a sort of subhuman who does not feel love and friendship, who does not experience hope and despair, who does not deserve to dream and plan and live in peace the same way I do.”
― Shirley Russak Wachtel, The Story of Blima: A Holocaust Survivor