Hans Hubermann Quotes

“He came in every night and sat with her. The first couple of times, he simply stayed—a stranger to kill the aloneness. A few nights after that, he whispered, ‘Shhh, I’m here, it’s all right.’ After three weeks, he held her. Trust was accumulated quickly, due primarily to the brute strength of the man’s gentleness, his thereness. The girl knew from the outset that Hans Huberman would always appear midscream, and he would not leave.”

“Many times, on the way home, women with nothing but kids and poverty would come running out and plead with him to paint their blinds. ‘Frau Hallah, I’m sorry, I have no black paint left,’ he would say, but a little farther down the road, he would always break. . . . ‘Tomorrow,’ he’d promise, ‘first thing,’ and when the next morning dawned, there he was, painting those blinds for nothing or for a cookie or a warm cup of tea.”

“To most people, Hans Huberman was barely visible. An un-special person. Certainly his painting skills were excellent. His musical ability was better than average. Somehow, though . . . he was able to appear as merely part of the background. . . . Not noticeable. Not important or particularly valuable.”

“You’re either for the Führer or against him—and I can see that you’re against him. You always have been.”

“Did he bend down and embrace his foster daughter, as he wanted to do? Did he tell her that he was sorry for what was happening to her, to her mother, for what had happened to her brother? Not exactly. He clenched his eyes. Then opened them. He slapped Liesel Meminger squarely in the face. ‘Don’t ever say that!’ His voice was quiet, but sharp.”