We have found when a staff lives under the roof of the local authority, there is more tranquility.
Lanser wants to propagandize the townspeople into accepting his rule of law and his government of the town by giving the appearance of being allied with the Mayor. This means that there will be less resistance, less trouble, and that the town will remain very productive because things will continue working as normal. This makes life much easier for the Colonel and his operatives.
It also does not work; Lanser confuses the power of the palace with the power of the people who put the mayor there. Orden sees himself as a leader in a way that best represents democracy; he was given the power to run the town by doing the things that the townspeople want done. He is there to follow their instruction, not the other way around. This comment from Lanser shows that he does not understand that nature of democracy, and that he is so consumed with creating a picture of what he wants the locals to believe that he has not given any thought to what might happen if they don't believe it.
At last Orden answered, "Why didn't you shoot him then? That was the time to do it!"
Lanser shook his head. "If I agreed with you, it would make no difference. You know as well as I that punishment is largely for the purpose of deterring the potential criminal. Thus, since punishment is for others than the punished, it must be publicized. It must even be dramatized." He thrust a finger in the back of his belt and flipped his little dagger.
Orden does not understand the Colonel's desire for public execution. Orden, because he is civilized, and his nation has enjoyed peace, believes that a punishment should be exacted at the most appropriate time and place, but Lanser believes a punishment is for show. The person being punished knows what he did, or what he is accused of. If he is guilty, he deserves the punishment, if he is wrongly accused, he does not deserve the punishment and will either appeal it or suffer it unjustly. In a civilized society, fear of punishment is a healthy deterrent.
Lanser does not come from a civilized society, but one what has a veneer of civility. He wants to create the worst execution possible in front of as many townspeople as possible to insinuate that if they continue to resist him, this is the end that they will meet as well. He believes that punishment is not designed to punish the individual but to scare the rest of the community into obedience and conformity. Therefore if he murders publicly, it is more impactful on the community as a whole than if he exacted punishment in private.
After a moment he said, "I wish I could do something. I'll have the snow pushed off the roof."
"No," said Molly, "no."
"Why not?"
"Because the people would think I had joined you. They would expel me. I don't want to be expelled."
Molly is finding life difficult now that she is on her own, but she has caught the eye of Lieutenant Tonder, one of the invaders. He wants to do something to help her or make her life easier but any help from him would make her life far more difficult because she would be seen to be a collaborator even if this was not the case.
The Germans do not do nice things for the townspeople; they ride roughshod over them, and they take whatever they want when they see it. They don't ask for permission. Because of this any generosity on Tonder's behalf would be seen as reward for something and the only thing that could be was collaboration.
Molly makes reference to the fact that she would be expelled, or ostracized, from the town, which of course she doesn't want; after the war, collaborators were punished harshly, their heads shaved so that they could be easily identifiable and therefore ostracized.
