stop playing games : Reichenthal, ‘Reappraisal’， p. 225.
sparing of several hundred Jews : Kasztner, Kasztner Report , p. 158.
nearly 200 ‘prominent’ Jews : Braham, Politics of Genocide , vol. 2, p. 955.
$1,684,000 in cash and valuables : Bogdanor, Kasztner’s Crime , p. 191.
‘a second Warsaw’ : Kasztner, Kasztner Report , p. 129.
500 such cards : Reichenthal, ‘Reappraisal’， p. 234.
Eichmann himself : Kasztner, Kasztner Report , p. 145.
bogus evidence : Reichenthal, ‘Reappraisal’， p. 235.
over the course of fifty-six days : Stark, Hungarian Jews , pp. 21–31. There is conflicting information regarding the number of Jews deported from Hungary. According to a report by Gendarme Colonel László Ferenczy, the number was 434,351. Reich plenipotentiary in Hungary Edmund Veesenmayer cited 437,402.
nuggets of news : Vrba, ‘Preparations’， p. 256.
grasped the urgency : Kulka interview with Wetzler, 1964, YVA P.25/21/3, p. 5.
200 Slovak crowns : Vrba, ‘Preparations’， p. 261.
Office for Prevention of Venereal Diseases : Ibid., p. 256.
Gerti Jurkovi? : Vrbová, Trust , pp. 79–80.
serious, brilliant, imaginative boy : Author interview with Gerta Vrbová, 30 June 2020.
‘very bad experiences’ : Vrbová, Trust , p. 85.
perhaps for ever : Ibid., p. 86.
body stiffened : Ibid., p. 88.
‘What have you been doing?’ : Author interview with Gerta Vrbová, 15 June 2020.
‘Where did you think I was?’ : Ibid.
to trust anyone : Vrbová, Trust , p. 92.
tasked T?r?k : Interview with József Eliás in Baron, Stopping , p. 187.
staring right at them : Interview with Sándor T?r?k in ibid., p. 205.
make his way to the palace : Ibid., p. 70.
compassion and shame : Ibid., p. 208.
accepted all of it as the truth : Ibid.
‘These gangsters!’ : The words were spoken by Horthy to the commander-in-chief of the provincial police, Gábor Faragho. Quoted in ibid., p. 74.
report back to Rome : Kulka, ‘Five Escapes’， p. 215. Kulka suggests it was the confirmation secured in the monastery that led the Vatican to act.
telegram to Admiral Horthy : Fleming, Auschwitz , p. 233.
make his plea public : Kulka, ‘Five Escapes’， p. 215.
a message to Horthy : Baron, Stopping , p. 75.
‘The deportation of the Jews of Budapest must cease!’ : Braham, Politics of Genocide , vol. 2, p. 873.
12,421 Jews : ‘Death Trains in 1944: The Kassa List’。
provincial gendarmes : Baron, Stopping , pp. 80–2.
departure on 10 July : Braham, Politics of Genocide , vol. 2, p. 879.
1,200 tons of bombs : Baron, Stopping , p. 84.
‘all measures necessary’ : Office of Strategic Services report cited in ibid., p. 94.
provincial police : Ibid., p. 105.
self-preservation : Ibid., p. 42.
‘It cannot be tolerated!’ : Lévai （ed.）， Eichmann in Hungary , p. 126.
Chapter 25: A Wedding with Guns
‘this is the Gestapo’ : Vrbová, Trust , p. 94.
‘Escape on your own’ : Ibid., p. 115.
fight until victory : Vrba, ‘Affidavit’。
weeping with happiness : Vrba, I Escaped , p. 315.
sabotage of Nazi supply lines : Vrba, ‘Affidavit’， p. 5.
membership of the communist party : Ibid., p. 6; Vrba, Testimony, p. 1518.
his one, unshakeable affiliation : Vrba, Testimony, p. 1386.
rather than Bratislava : Vrbová, Betrayed , p. 31.
digs, the library and the lab : Vrba, ‘Affidavit’， p. 7.
‘There he is’ : Vrba, I Escaped , p. 307.
she was not wrong : Ibid., p. 308.
suicide by deportation : Author interview with Robin Vrba, 16 November 2020.
something missing : Vrbová, Betrayed , p. 71.
did not love him enough : Ibid., p. 49.
trace of violence : Ibid., p. 71.
join up with Wetzler : Ibid., p. 59.
only good thing Hitler did : Ibid., p. 66.
Kampa : Ibid., p. 69.
duty to marry her : Author interview with Robin Vrba, 16 November 2020.
dark navy rather than white : Vrbová, Betrayed , p. 74.
Gerta found it distressing : Ibid., p. 75.
vodka : Ibid., p. 87.
she said nothing : Ibid., p. 88.
‘hid all the scissors’ : Ibid.
already learned to be paranoid : Author interview with Gerta Vrbová, 15 June 2020.
Helen of Troy : Vrbová, Betrayed , p. 105.
fluffy blonde hair : Ibid.
the eggs had vanished : Ibid., p. 114.
multiple affairs : Author interview with Robin Vrba, 30 November 2020.
who had denounced her : Vrbová, Betrayed , pp. 122–4.
revenge : Author interview with Gerta Vrbová, 28 July 2020.
‘not able to guarantee a socialist education’ : Vrba, ‘Affidavit’， p. 13.
nothing of the kind : Author interview with Gerta Vrbová, 15 September 2020.
they were badly damaged : Vrbová, Betrayed , p. 12.
‘wished to help’ : Vrba, ‘Affidavit’， p. 7.
dangerous to refuse : Ibid., p. 9.
nobody mentioned the fate of the Jews : Vrba, I Escaped , pp. xi–xii.
Czech national anthem : Kulka, Landscapes , p. 110.
made Rudi suspicious : Author interview with Gerta Vrbová, 15 June 2020.
Chapter 26: A New Nation, a New England
could understand it : Klein, ‘Confronting’， p. 278.
six-hour hike : Vrbová, Betrayed , pp. 192–203.
clustered in tribes : Author interview with Gerta Vrbová, 30 June 2020.
he had already defended himself : Ibid.
August 1952 : Segev, The Seventh Million , p. 257.
‘darkest chapter in the whole dark story’ : Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem , p. 117.
reward for his silence : Porter, Kasztner’s Train , p. 331.
travelled to Nuremberg in 1947 : Reichenthal, ‘Reappraisal’， p. 241.
‘food packages’ : Ibid., p. 249.
fear of exposure : Ibid., p. 251.
‘They need someone to blame’ : Porter, Kasztner’s Train , p. 343.
‘collaboration in the fullest sense of the word’ : Harry Gilroy, ‘Quisling Charge Stirs All Israel’， New York Times , 3 July 1955.
reborn in Tel Aviv : Porter, Kasztner’s Train , p. 313.
the blood draining from him : Ibid., pp. 354–5.
‘Judge not thy neighbour ’ : Justice Shimon Agranat was quoting the ancient scholar Rabbi Hillel. See Klein, Pietà , p. 130.
thrown into liquid air : Vrba, Bachelard and Krawczynski, ‘Interrelationship’。
‘the animals were killed by decapitation’ : Ibid.
dropping them into liquid nitrogen : Vrba, ‘Utilization’。
‘They told me you were dead’ : Author interview with Robin Vrba, 30 November 2020.
trying to have him deported : Ibid.
distinguished matrimonial lawyers : Obituary for Blanche Lucas, The Times , 21 July 1994.
total legal custody : Author interview with Gerta Vrbová, 28 July 2020.
limited visitation rights : Vrba to Zuza Vrbová, 14 June 1983, p. 13, shared with the author by Gerta Vrbová.
Jews were clever people : Vrba, I Escaped , pp. xvi–xvii.
he would never forgive : Author interview with Gerta Vrbová, 30 June 2020.