The German Midwife Quotes
"Every thirty seconds, the darkness was split by pinpricks of white as the searchlight did its endless sweep through the holes in the flimsy planks."
"The baby’s head lay on the cleanest rag we had, shoulders and body still inside Irena."
"But as the dark diminished and daylight began licking through the cracks in the walls, the atmosphere in the hut became edgy."
"In the camp, we scavenged greedily on the corpses for useful clothes without a second thought. ‘The dead don’t shiver,’ we said, as justification for our guilt."
"‘I will always endeavour to bring the best outcome for any woman,’ I said, leaving my own, deliberate pause. ‘Whoever they are.’"
"It was the old Anke I saw, but not one I recognised. My outer and inner selves were at strange odds with each other."
"In the camp, it was an easy black and white decision. It was them and us, and when favours were exchanged it was for life and death."
"In the mirror, I noted a subtle change in my face, a gradual colouring coming into more rounded cheeks, and my hair became thicker, acquiring a slight sheen."
"‘You probably won’t know that several of my family’s friends have been cared for in Berlin during their pregnancies,’ she went on, ‘and your skills are highly thought of.’"
"I hope one day to have a baby. I’m certainly not put off, or frightened, of it. Far from it. I think – I hope – I would relish it, welcome the experience. My work has taught me to have great faith in women. Mother Nature seems to get it right most times."
"The reward for a hard labour is always the baby."
"I'm afraid I'm not allowed letters, either in or out."
"I was wrapped in a blanket on my porch and fighting against the dying light when I heard footsteps."
"You give me too much credit – I am simply an engineer and a messenger, nothing more."
"I was a student of architecture. I had to give up my studies."
"Depending on the timing – when to climb down and away from that mountain and to safety."
"I hate this war, Christa, I really hate what it’s done to Germany, to Germans, and everyone else."
"There’s nothing you need to do. Just watch and wait."
"You would not believe how practical I have become, working all day at my bench – I almost feel like I have a proper job."
"My chest is holding up, even through the winter, so there is every reason to be cheerful."
"I think of you, my gorgeous one, of all of you, and hope one day we can be reunited."
"I hope to hear from you again. All my love, Papa."
"Perhaps we will all be together again someday."
"I felt buoyed, though not entirely free of the smouldering belly glow."
"That will never do, I thought concisely. Matron will be very cross."
"Surviving, Nurse Hoff,' he managed, 'I mustn’t complain.'"
"The baby, the baby,' she said, one, two, three times over, looking down mournfully at the uneven pool of blood."
"Do you have anything you need to collect from your room?"
"I’m sure you are all well and smiling through."
"I don’t feel well. Tell me the baby’s all right."
"I’m glad it’s you. Up here, with her. With everything you know."
"We are both working hard, but managing to rest also."
"I’m sure it was an oversight,' I defended. 'She’s sometimes forgetful.'"
"She has given me strict instructions to be left alone."
"I am glad to see you out here – I assume it means you have no concerns?"
"I think it perfectly fitting that I take my companion for a drink."
"I’m sure he can arrange for a driver to collect Fräulein Hoff later?"
"I’ve come to tell you that Fräulein Braun has asked you attend her later."
"Well, I think that’s my decision, Sergeant, since I am the health professional."
"I held on to my breath until halfway down the corridor, letting it out in one huge sigh as Dr Langer emerged from the theatre room."
"That’s wonderful – a moving baby is a happy baby, as we say."
"‘I’m not afraid, you know,’ she said as I turned to leave. ‘I’m not afraid of giving birth, of everything that goes with it.’"
"Ah, no, come in – you’re a welcome relief from the frustrations of correspondence. I sometimes think this war will be won or lost on typewriters instead of the battlefield."
"He’s too busy being the father of Germany. No, this is the Goebbels’ baby, Joseph’s little starlet."
"Of course I know! Do you think I’m ignorant, or worse – a monster?"
"‘I do everything I can to limit my effectiveness without raising suspicion. If I appear incompetent they will simply replace me with another who is efficient – viciously efficient.'"
"You have the power to change everything for our beloved country. The Reich needs an icon – you can deliver it into Hitler’s hands, or to safety in ours. Think of your family and your fate. And of good Germans. You can change lives."
"‘I hate this war, I bloody hate this disgusting excuse for a fight between children pretending to be grown men,’ he said quietly."
"It’s crazy, it’s the strangest time, and it’s war. But this … it’s love."
"You’re doing fine, your baby is well on its way."
"I think I’ll call him Edel – I’ve always liked that name. It’s very strong, don’t you think?"
"She’s perfect to me, but not to them, is she?"
"Her care was unblemished. There was simply no hope and I did what I thought was right at the time."
"The baby had—deformities. Significant deformities."
"You cannot – and will not – hold her responsible."
"He’s perfect to me, but not to them, is he? Not to …"
"I want you to take him away, to safety. To live."
"I did it for the love of the Führer. For Germany."
"He’s alive and well, but he’s missing a hand."
"He was the son she would have wanted him to be."
"A child of the time, a war baby, and not the Reich’s child."