"Hundreds of eyes were watching his every move. Hundreds of men were crawling with him, scraping their bodies with his on the stones. All hearts trembled, but mostly with envy. He was the one who had dared."

"He was about to signal his aides to pull the chair from under the young man's feet when the latter shouted, in a strong and calm voice: 'Long live liberty! My curse on Germany! My curse! My—' The executioner completed his work."

"But the third rope was still moving: the child, too light, was still breathing… And so he remained for more than half an hour, lingering between life and death, writhing before our eyes. And we were forced to look at him at close range. He was still alive when I passed him. His tongue was still red, his eyes not yet extinguished. Behind me, I heard the same man asking: 'For God's sake, where is God?'"