Haskel Spiegelman Character Analysis in Maus

Vladek’s cousin, the brother of Miloch and Pesach. Haskel is the chief of the Jewish Police in Srodula. He helps Vladek, Anja, and Lolek escape the detention center in Srodula, but refuses to help Mr. and Mrs. Zylberberg. Haskel is unctuous and self-serving, always trying to ingratiate himself with the Nazis — Vladek calls him a crook.

Haskel Spiegelman Quotes in Maus

The Maus quotes below are all either spoken by Haskel Spiegelman or refer to Haskel Spiegelman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

The Holocaust and the Responsibility of its Survivors Theme Icon

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Pantheon edition of Maus published in 1993.

Artie: Wouldn’t they have helped you even if you couldn’t pay? I mean, you were from the same family.

Vladek: Hah! You don’t understand … At that time, it wasn’t anymore families. It was everybody to take care for himself!

Related Characters: (speaker), (speaker), ,

Page Number and Citation: I.114

Explanation and Analysis:

Haskel took from me Father-in-Law’s jewels. But, finally, he didn’t help them. On Wednesday the vans came. Anja and I saw her father at the window. He was tearing his hair and crying. He was a millionaire, but even this didn’t save him his life.

Related Characters: (speaker), , ,

Page Number and Citation: I.115

Explanation and Analysis:

Haskel Spiegelman Character Timeline in Maus

The timeline below shows where the character Haskel Spiegelman appears in Maus. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Family, Identity, and Jewishness Theme Icon

Death, Chance, and Human Interdependence Theme Icon

Vladek has two cousins working for the Germans: Jakov, who does manual labor, and Haskel, who is the chief of the Jewish police in Srodula. While awaiting transport to Auschwitz,... (full context)

Jakov brings Haskel to the detention center. Vladek bribes Haskel with a diamond ring. Haskel says he can... (full context)

...Artie’s mild disgust, for use in household chores. He goes on with his story: after Haskel smuggles them out of the detention center, he takes them to a shoe shop where... (full context)