MAUS: Page 210 Analysis

In Maus, page 210, in “Auschwitz (Time Flies)”, Vladek tells his son, Art, about how the Nazis in charge of Auschwitz lined everyone up to count them and make sure there wasn´t anyone missing; they counted those death and alive. He stated that they would stand the whole night sometimes if they felt the need to count multiple times. Art´s images portray a bit of diversity as we see a mix of mice and pigs in the lines. The Polish were always portrayed as pigs in Maus, while the Jews were always shown as mice. Then, Vladek moved on to point out a certain character that was known for complaining constantly. This character called on a German officer to express that he did not belong there, since he was German just like the officer himself, he even claimed to have received medals from the Kaiser and that his own son was a German soldier. Here, we see the most eye-catching image in this page as we get two panels right beside each other where the mentioned character is portrayed as a mouse on the left panel and visualized as a cat (German) on the right side, thus we get a comparison of what he was seen like, and what he claimed to be. Art asked his father if he was in fact German, but Vladek did not know; the only thing he was sure of, was that the Germans saw him as one more Jew. Vladek then stated in the same page, at the bottom, that this guy died anyways. He heard that a German guard dragged him away from the lines for being unable to stand straight and killed him, which is what we see in the image from the page, but there is also the rumor that he died in the gas chamber, but the point is that he died, thus Vladek mentions that he never heard him complain again.