--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I do not know where Viktor and Rudolf…" description: "\"“I do not know where Viktor and Rudolf were taken. I cannot find the records. I never Elisabeth or Iggie. It is possible that they were taken to the Ho..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b9/edmund-de-waal-26190_atrocities_i-do-not-know-where-viktor-and-rudolf-we_33085.jpg" --- # I do not know where Viktor and Rudolf were taken. I cannot… ![“I do not know where Viktor and Rudolf were taken. I cannot find the records. I never Elisabeth or Iggie. It is possible that they were taken to the Hotel Metropole, which has been sequestered as the headquarters of the Gestapo. There are many other lock-ups for this flood of Jews. They are beaten…” quote by Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b9/edmund-de-waal-26190_atrocities_i-do-not-know-where-viktor-and-rudolf-we_33085.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b9/edmund-de-waal-26190_atrocities_i-do-not-know-where-viktor-and-rudolf-we_33085.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b9/edmund-de-waal-26190_atrocities_i-do-not-know-where-viktor-and-rudolf-we_33085.jpg) > ““I do not know where Viktor and Rudolf were taken. I cannot find the records. I never Elisabeth or Iggie. It is possible that they were taken to the Hotel Metropole, which has been sequestered as the headquarters of the Gestapo. There are many other lock-ups for this flood of Jews. They are beaten, of course; but they are also forbidden to shave or wash so that they look even more degenerate. This because it is important to address the old affront of Jews not looking like Jews. This processing of stripping away your respectability, taking away your watch-chain, or your shoes or your belt, so that you stumble to hold up your trousers with one hand, is a way of returning everyone to the shtetl, stripping you back to your essential character - wandering, unshaven, bowed with your possessions on your back. You are supposed to end up looking like a cartoon from Der Stuermer, Streicher's tabloid that is now sold on the streets of Vienna. They take away your reading glasses.”” [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A survivor recounts the systematic humiliation and dehumanization of Jews in Nazi-, describing forced stripping of personal dignity and identity to reduce them to caricatures. **In simple terms:** Nazi oppression stripped Jews of dignity and identity. Key Takeaway Dehumanization uses humiliation to erase individuality. Themes Oppression Dehumanization Identity Erasure Nazi Terror Psychological Warfare Mood Somber Reflective Disturbing Type Testimonial Historical Narrative When to use this quote - Concentration camp arrival - Forced relocation to Gestapo headquarters - Public humiliation in Nazi-occupied cities - Survivor testimony in post-war trials Key Concepts Forced Stripping Humiliation Propaganda Cultural Erasure Practical Applications - Historical education on Holocaust atrocities - Designing museum exhibits on personal dignity loss Questions to Reflect On - How does stripping personal symbols affect a group's resistance? - What role does visual humiliation play in sustaining authoritarian control? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atrocities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atrocities/) [Holocaust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holocaust/) [Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/israel/) [Jews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jews/) [Judaism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judaism/) [Reading glasses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading-glasses/) [Stereotypes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stereotypes/) ## Related quotes > [Some ticket buyers think they don't like Jews.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-l-warner/some-ticket-buyers-think-they-don-t-like-jews/) Jack L. Warner > [I dont like Jews. Or colored folk. Or natives, now that you mention it...I bet you like Catholics. Cant stand them either. Nor women,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert/i-dont-like-jews-or-colored-folk-or-natives-now-that-you-mention-it-i/) [Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert/) > [Here's some news you might find surprising: By and large, the French like Jews.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/here-s-some-news-you-might-find-surprising-by-and-large-the-french/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [Like all Jews, I was probably at a Chinese restaurant!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-kagan/like-all-jews-i-was-probably-at-a-chinese-restaurant/) [Elena Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-kagan/) > [Farrakhan got everybody together for the Million Man March and everything. But Farrakhan don't like the Jews. Which is bugged. I get my hair…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-rock/farrakhan-got-everybody-together-for-the-million-man-march-and/) [Chris Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-rock/) > [And when I'd be reporting in Israel, Palestinians would say, the Jews they're not like us, and the Jews would say the same things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/and-when-i-d-be-reporting-in-israel-palestinians-would-say-the-jews/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [My Kashubian family, like the Jews, are people who were born and live in border areas and were suspected by the Nazis and by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-tusk/my-kashubian-family-like-the-jews-are-people-who-were-born-and-live/) [Donald Tusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-tusk/) > [Not every anti-Semite is Joseph Goebbels. You can not like Jews much and be no great harm to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/not-every-anti-semite-is-joseph-goebbels-you-can-not-like-jews-much/) [Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/) > [To the Jews, Rome constituted the quintessence of all that was odious and should be swept away from off the face of the earth.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-kastein/to-the-jews-rome-constituted-the-quintessence-of-all-that-was-odious/) Joseph Kastein > [We Muslims in the West, like Jews before us, grapple with the same issues that Jews of the past did: integration or isolation, tradition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamza-yusuf/we-muslims-in-the-west-like-jews-before-us-grapple-with-the-same/) [Hamza Yusuf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamza-yusuf/) > [Nobody likes Jews. You can't say people like Jews. We're not popular. We're too smart to be liked. But it has been unacceptable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miriam-margolyes/nobody-likes-jews-you-can-t-say-people-like-jews-we-re-not-popular-we/) [Miriam Margolyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miriam-margolyes/) > [When I was growing up, I, like many Jews, cheered what appeared to be the receding of faith from everyday life. The further religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-feiler/when-i-was-growing-up-i-like-many-jews-cheered-what-appeared-to-be/) [Bruce Feiler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-feiler/) > [“A Jew had once saved his life and he couldn't forget that. He couldn't join a party that antagonized people in such a way...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/a-jew-had-once-saved-his-life-and-he-couldn-t-forget-that-he-couldn-t/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [No offense, Nazis, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but I don't like you. I like Jews.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gavin-mcinnes/no-offense-nazis-i-don-t-want-to-hurt-your-feelings-but-i-don-t-like/) [Gavin McInnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gavin-mcinnes/) > [Like 'em or hate 'em, these once peaceful gun owners of the '90s are feeling a lot like Jews of 1939 Germany. Maligned, lied…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-wolfe/like-em-or-hate-em-these-once-peaceful-gun-owners-of-the-90s-are/) [Claire Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-wolfe/) ## More by Edmund de Waal > [“And I'm not entitled to nostalgia about all that lost wealth and glamour from a century ago. And I am not interested in thin.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/and-i-m-not-entitled-to-nostalgia-about-all-that-lost-wealth-and/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“And someone turns out the lights in the library, as if being in the dark will make them invisible, but the noise reaches into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/and-someone-turns-out-the-lights-in-the-library-as-if-being-in-the/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“Does assimilation mean that they never came up against naked prejudice? Does it mean that you understood where the limits of your social world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/does-assimilation-mean-that-they-never-came-up-against-naked/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“The house wasn't theirs anymore. It was full of people, some in uniforms and some in suits. People counting rooms, making lists of objects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/the-house-wasn-t-theirs-anymore-it-was-full-of-people-some-in/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“It makes me wonder what belonging to a place means. Charles died a Russian in Paris. Viktor called it wrong and was a Russian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/it-makes-me-wonder-what-belonging-to-a-place-means-charles-died-a/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“There is something about that burning of all those letters that gives me pause: why should everything be made clear and be brought into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/there-is-something-about-that-burning-of-all-those-letters-that-gives/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“He stands with his hands in his pockets, well-dressed and self-assured, with his life before him and a plush armchair behind him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/he-stands-with-his-hands-in-his-pockets-well-dressed-and-self-assured/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“You just hope, if you make things as I do, that they can make their way in the world and have some longevity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/you-just-hope-if-you-make-things-as-i-do-that-they-can-make-their-way/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“Stories and objects share something, a patina...Perhaps patina is a process of rubbing back so that the essential is revealed...But it also seems additive,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/stories-and-objects-share-something-a-patina-perhaps-patina-is-a/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“Kövecses radiated the sense of self-sufficiency that comes about when there are lots of children in a big house.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/k-vecses-radiated-the-sense-of-self-sufficiency-that-comes-about-when/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“The vitrines exist so that you can see objects, but not touch them: they frame things, suspend them, tantalise through distance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/the-vitrines-exist-so-that-you-can-see-objects-but-not-touch-them/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [The problem is that I am in the wrong century to burn things. I am the wrong generation to let it go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/the-problem-is-that-i-am-in-the-wrong-century-to-burn-things-i-am-the/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“How objects are handed on is all about story-telling. I am giving you this because I love you. Or because it was given to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/how-objects-are-handed-on-is-all-about-story-telling-i-am-giving-you/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“Japanese things - laquers, netsuke, prints - conjure a picture of a place where sensations are always new, where art pours out of daily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/japanese-things-laquers-netsuke-prints-conjure-a-picture-of-a-place/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“House-watching is an art. You have to develop a way of seeing how a building sits in its landscape or streetscape. You have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/house-watching-is-an-art-you-have-to-develop-a-way-of-seeing-how-a/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) [Explore all 22 Edmund de Waal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) ## More Atrocities quotes > [A furious Peeta hammers Haymitch with the atrocity he could become party to, but I can feel Haymitch watching me. This is the moment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/a-furious-peeta-hammers-haymitch-with-the-atrocity-he-could-become/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [As far as I know, the question of whether and how it could be strategically or morally justified was never the subject of open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-far-as-i-know-the-question-of-whether-and-how-it-could-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [I have become convinced, through my studies, that the only way to achieve a safe, just and viable world is to live by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/i-have-become-convinced-through-my-studies-that-the-only-way-to/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [Yet only the atrocities of the conquered are referred to as criminal acts; those of the conqueror are justified as necessary, heroic, and even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-fergus/yet-only-the-atrocities-of-the-conquered-are-referred-to-as-criminal/) [Jim Fergus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-fergus/) > [“I don't know how to stop the atrocities. I don't know how to make people care. But looking into my sister's eyes, we seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-shannon/i-don-t-know-how-to-stop-the-atrocities-i-don-t-know-how-to-make/) [Lisa Shannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-shannon/) > [War is horrible no matter what. There's going to be atrocities, there's going to be horrible things that happen in war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-hoffman/war-is-horrible-no-matter-what-there-s-going-to-be-atrocities-there-s/) Mike Hoffman > [Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities War. He is the only one that gathers his brethren about him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/man-is-the-only-animal-that-deals-in-that-atrocity-of-atrocities-war/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Well before September 11, it was understood that with modern technology, the rich and powerful will lose their near monopoly of the means of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/well-before-september-11-it-was-understood-that-with-modern/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“Every Christian who studies history can only grieve over the atrocities that have been committed in the name of God by people who refuse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/berit-kjos/every-christian-who-studies-history-can-only-grieve-over-the/) Berit Kjos > [Fanatics can justify practically any atrocity to themselves. The more untenable their position becomes, the harder they hold to it, and the worse the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mercedes-lackey/fanatics-can-justify-practically-any-atrocity-to-themselves-the-more/) [Mercedes Lackey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mercedes-lackey/) > [We must never forget the atrocities of slavery as we continue to work towards equality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-n-green/we-must-never-forget-the-atrocities-of-slavery-as-we-continue-to-work/) [Al N. Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-n-green/) > [“The terrified men did not move. Then Nadia Fedin did something instinctive; she drew her Nagant revolver and fired three short bursts into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kge-konkel/the-terrified-men-did-not-move-then-nadia-fedin-did-something/) KGE Konkel > [Human beings can be redeemed. Empires cannot. Our refusal to face the truth about empire, our refusal to defy the multitudinous crimes and atrocities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/human-beings-can-be-redeemed-empires-cannot-our-refusal-to-face-the/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [“The character of Moses, as stated in the Bible, is the most horrid that can be imagined. If those accounts be true, he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-character-of-moses-as-stated-in-the-bible-is-the-most-horrid-that/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) [Browse all 335 Atrocities quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atrocities/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I do not know where Viktor and Rudolf were taken. I cannot find the records. I never Elisabeth or Iggie. It is possible that they were taken to the Hotel Metropole, which has been sequestered as the headquarters of the Gestapo. There are many other lock-ups for this flood of Jews. They are beaten, of course; but they are also forbidden to shave or wash so that they look even more degenerate. This because it is important to address the old affront of Jews not looking like Jews. This processing of stripping away your respectability, taking away your watch-chain, or your shoes or your belt, so that you stumble to hold up your trousers with one hand, is a way of returning everyone to the shtetl, stripping you back to your essential character - wandering, unshaven, bowed with your possessions on your back. You are supposed to end up looking like a cartoon from Der Stuermer, Streicher's tabloid that is now sold on the streets of Vienna. 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