He wonders if for the rest of his life, be it short or long, he will be defined by this moment, this irregular number: 32407.
-- Narrator (chapter 1)

Importance: Lale thinks this to himself after his identification number is tattooed into the skin of his arm upon arrival at Auschwitz. The Nazi’s tried—and often succeeded—to rob their victims of their humanity and their identity by reducing them to just a number but Lale refuses to allow this to happen to himself and makes a vow to himself that he will resist their efforts by surviving.

These mattresses have hay in them…Maybe we should continue to act like cattle and eat that.
-- An unnamed prisoner (chapter 1)

Importance: The Jewish prisoners at Birkenau are treated as if they are animals. They are herded into wagons, buses, and trains for transport, and inspected in rows, and their fate is decided with the flick of a finger: labor, experimentation, or...