" The power and splendor of everyday life, how he had despised it in the past. If only instead of having to wait out here, he could go inside to be the butcher’s helper, a delivery boy for the spice dealer, a guest in one of these homes. In Westhofen he’d pictured a street here differently. He thought he would see a feeling of shame in every face, on every cobblestone, and that sorrow would mute the steps and voices and even the children’s games. The street here was calm; the people looked happy. "

― Anna Seghers , Das siebte Kreuz