The Hangman's Daughter Quotes

“Life went on, despite all the dying.”
― Oliver Potzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“If you want to know who is responsible for anything, ask who benefits from it.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“Say what you like: God is just, after all.”
― Oliver Potzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“And all because of a mistaken concept of compassion!”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“It’s the wrong people that suffer, not the poor.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“In the past few years, genealogical research has become increasingly popular. Perhaps one of the reasons for this is that we are trying, in a world of increasing complexity, to create a simpler and more understandable place for ourselves. No longer do we grow up in large families. We feel increasingly estranged, replaceable, and ephemeral. Genealogy gives us a feeling of immortality. The individual dies; the family lives on.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“When he dipped into the mysteries of nature, he was sure that there must be a God. Who else could create such lovely works of art? Man's inventions could only ape those of his Creator. On the other hand, it was the same God who ensured that people died like flies, carried off by plague and war. It was difficult in such times to believe in God, but Jakob Kuisl discovered Him in the beauties of nature.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“The hangman, a friend of humanity--who would have thought it?”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“The hangman looked through the glass at a heap of yellow stars, which were glittering in the light of the tallow candle. Crystals like snow, each one perfect in its form and arrangement. Jakob Kuisl smiled. When he dipped into the mysteries of nature, he was sure that there must be a God. Who else could create such lovely works of art? Man’s inventions could only ape those of his Creator. On the other hand, it was the same God who ensured that people died like flies, carried off by plague and war. It was difficult in such times to believe in God, but Jakob Kuisl discovered Him in the beauties of nature.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“because a rumor is like smoke. It will spread, it will seep through closed doors and latched shutters, and in the end the whole town will smell of it.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“His love for this girl was so strong now, at this moment, that he would readily give up everything for her.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“Simon couldn’t imagine how he used to cope without coffee. A glorious brew, a true devil’s nectar, he thought.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“The war brought ruin to Germany, but it couldn’t do any harm to these men. Lechner couldn’t suppress a smile. Fat will always float to the top.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“These women with their feminine wisdom had always been suspect to men. They knew potions and herbs; they touched women in indecent spots; and they knew how to get rid of the fruit of the womb, that gift of God. Many midwives had been burned as witches by men.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“Drums rumbled, cymbals clanged, and somewhere a fiddle was playing. The aroma of deep-fried doughnuts and roasted meat drifted down to the foul-smelling tanners’ quarter. Yes, it was going to be a lovely execution.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“He had the feeling that humanity was running in place. So many centuries and they had not learned anything new.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“At least the devil has good taste," he said. "You have to grant the bastard that much.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“October 12 was a good day for a killing.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“...we are trying, in a world of increasing complexity, to create a simpler and more understandable place for ourselves. No longer do we grow up in large families. We feel increasingly estranged, replaceable, and ephemeral. Genealogy gives us a feeling of immortality. The individual dies; the family lives on.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“I tell my seven-year-old son about his remarkable forefathers. I leave out the bloody details. (For him these people are like knights, which sounds better than hangmen or executioners.) In his bedroom hangs a collage made up of photos of long-dead family members--great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, their aunts, their uncles, their nephews and nieces..Sometimes at night he wants to hear stories about these people, and I tell him what I know about them. Happy stories, sad stories, frightening stories. For him the family is a safe refuge, a link binding him to many people whom he loves and who love him. I once heard that everyone on this earth is at least distantly related to everyone else. Somehow this is a comforting idea.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“That morning, when Simon, at the end of a long night, had climbed out of the tunnels, he had believed that nothing could ever be the same as it had been before. But he had been wrong. Life was going on, at least for a little while longer.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“One of the soldiers was already busy tying a rope to a tree trunk that jutted out over the chasm.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“Pfaffenwinkel—the priests’ corner—and merry noise and laughter could be heard from the town. Drums rumbled, cymbals clanged, and somewhere a fiddle was playing. The aroma of deep-fried doughnuts and roasted meat drifted down to the foul-smelling tanners’ quarter. Yes, it was going to be a lovely execution”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“Well,” Simon added, “if you don’t present the Landgrave with a good story, he’ll hunt down more witches and keep on until half the women in Schongau are burned at the stake. Remember the witch trials in your childhood, when dozens of women were burned. The council will support you and swallow a few small lies if you see to it that the past does not repeat itself. You alone have enough influence to persuade the aldermen and the Landgrave. Use it! I’m sure you know all the mean little secrets that each of them has, which you can use to persuade them if necessary.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“Calm yourself. Take one thing at a time. We have to save not just the children, but Martha as well. And it is a fact that there was a witches’ mark on each of the dead children. And that all of them had previously been at the midwife’s. It’s possible that the Elector’s secretary will arrive as early as tomorrow, and Lechner wants to have the confession by then. I can actually understand why: if the secretary begins meddling in the matter, then one witch just won’t do. That’s exactly how it was with the last great witch hunt here in Schongau. In the end they burned more than sixty women in these parts.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“Hooting and cheering broke out, and through it all the priest’s high voice could be heard intoning a Latin hymn, though they could make out only a few words. “Dies irae, dies illa. Solvet saeclum in favilla . . . Day of wrath, that day of burning! Earth shall end, to ashes turning . . .” Simon bit his lip. The day of wrath was indeed close at hand.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“because a rumor is like smoke. It will spread, it will seep through closed doors and latched shutters, and in the end the whole town will smell of it. Let us put an end to the whole matter as soon as we can.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“As the hangman’s wagon entered the paved square, the music broke off. Someone screamed, “Hey, hangman! Have you sharpened your sword? But perhaps you want to marry her?!” The crowd howled with delight. True, it was customary in Schongau that the hangman could spare the offender if he married her. But Johannes Kuisl had a wife already, and Katharina Kuisl wasn’t exactly known to be kind and gentle. She was the daughter of the infamous executioner Jörg Abriel, and people called her the “Bloody Daughter” or “Satan’s Wife.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“The witch’s thumbs are tied to her toes and then she’s thrown into the water. If she floats to the surface, it’s because the devil is helping her, and she’s a witch. If she sinks, she’s innocent, but you’re rid of her anyway.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter

“Tolerated but never loved, an outcast even in death.”
― Oliver Pötzsch, The Hangman's Daughter