Refugee Quotes
"Josef Landau shot straight up in bed, his heart racing."
"They couldn’t afford their old place, not since the Nazis told Josef’s father he wasn’t allowed to practice law anymore because he was Jewish."
"Josef was so scared he wet himself, the warm liquid spreading through his nightclothes."
"Perhaps you’re close enough that we should take you to a concentration camp too, like your father."
"The Nazis hadn’t said it with words, but the message was clear: Josef and his family weren’t wanted in Germany anymore."
"The cat was so tiny it could only nibble at the beans."
"Cuba was a communist country, like Russia had been."
"Mahmoud’s head was hot and wet. He put a hand to it and came away with blood."
"Josef was about to leave when he thought to buy Ruthie a piece of candy."
"The entire outside wall of Mahmoud’s apartment was gone."
"Josef and his sister followed their mother through the crowd at the Lehrter Bahnhof."
"She tossed an old ball cap on the ground, on the off chance that one of the tourists actually had a peso to spare."
"Mahmoud’s father dove back into the front seat and yanked the iPhone and the charger cord from the Mercedes."
"The Nazis trashed the rest of Josef’s house, breaking furniture and smashing plates and tearing curtains."
"With a jolt of surprise, Mahmoud realized this kind of thing did happen every day. Just not to them. Until now."
"Josef left the compartment quietly and walked along the corridor past the other Jewish families in their compartments."
"Mahmoud’s father kept their papers tucked into his pants under his shirt, along with all of their money—the only other things they owned now besides two phones and two chargers."
"Step after step, kilometer after kilometer, he’d begun to think they would never, ever escape Syria."
"Ahead of them stretched a small city of white canvas tents, their pointed tops staggered like whitecaps on a choppy sea."
"A smuggler? Mom said. Mahmoud didn’t like the sound of that, either—to him, smuggler meant illegal, and illegal meant dangerous."
"Once you were in one of the EU countries, though, like Greece or Hungary or Germany, you could apply for asylum and be granted official refugee status."
"Mahmoud saw a cardboard box of used toys at one of the shops and knelt to dig in it while his mother and brother and sister walked on."
"It was a marriage procession, Mahmoud realized. Back in Syria, it was a tradition to be escorted to your wedding by a parade of cars."
"I’ve been talking to him on WhatsApp," Dad continued, holding up his phone.
"The old taxi’s exhaust pipe made a sound like a gunshot—POK!—and everybody ducked instinctively."
"Mahmoud’s heart was still racing when someone put a hand on his shoulder, and he jumped."
"You will forgive me," said the desk clerk, "but the rooms already have three families apiece."
"We should have stayed at the refugee camp!" Mom said.
"Mahmoud carried the life jackets so his father could carry Waleed, who quickly fell asleep on his father’s shoulder."
"It’s just for the night," Mahmoud’s father said.
"We don’t have to get all the way to the Greek mainland," Dad said. "Just the Greek island of Lesbos, about a hundred kilometers away."
"You can live life as a ghost, waiting for death to come, or you can dance."
"We’re all hot, and we’re all tired, and yes, we’re sinking."
"It’s like we’re never getting off this ship."
"They were going to die here. But at least Hana was safe."
"I’m sorry, my beautiful boy. If the boat hadn’t come along when it did, if you hadn’t convinced them to take her, she would have drowned."
"Thee alone we worship, and thee alone we ask for help. Show us the straight path."
"It’s better to be visible. To stand up. To stand out."
"If you stayed invisible here, did everything you were supposed to and never made waves, you would disappear from the eyes and minds of all the good people out there who could help you get your life back."
"See us, Mahmoud thought. Hear us. Help us."
"All they had to do was make room in their hearts for Germany the way it had made room for them, and accept this strange new place as their home."
"But a funny thing happened while I was waiting for the world to change, Chabela: It didn’t. Because I didn’t change it."
"This trip, this odyssey, was pulling his family apart, stripping them away like leaves from the trees in the fall."
"Josef had died so Ruthie could live, and one day welcome Mahmoud and his family into her house."
"They died so I could live. Do you understand? They died so all these people could live."
"I’m not going to make the same mistake twice. Take care of your mother and baby brother for me."