Heartwarming / Maus

• The family in Hanover that Vladek and Shimek meet after the war. They are given a warm welcome by the German gentile wife, her Jewish husband whom she hid during the war, and their two children - cat-striped mice. Seeing this obviously loving German-Jewish family unit for a few brief panels is a welcome reprieve after two volumes of cruelty, and serves as a little bit of proof that the Nazi ideology, ultimately, didn't win (not to mention throwing cat-lovers a bone).
• Vladek's praise for Art's preliminary material for the comic. On the one hand, it's perfectly reasonable to suspect his un-characteristic interest in the comic stems primarily from being the star of it (as Mala does), and comparing his son to Walt Disney may have more to do with Disney, as a household name, being the only figure associated with cartoons that Vladek would be aware of (as Art believes). On the other, perhaps Vladek is genuine in his pride towards his son's work, and believes he has it in him to become a great success and name in his field.
• Vladek's reaction to discovering Prisoner On Hell Planet, Art's comic book about Anja's suicide; while he's understandably upset about reading it, he's happy Art was able to get his feelings off his chest.
• The Polish priest in Auschwitz who sees Vladek crying and comforts him by using gematria and Hebrew to interpret his number tattoo, pointing out that the digits add up to 18, which means "life". A gentile caring enough to become an expert on this topic is heartwarming under the circumstances, in addition to the fact that he comforts Vladek.
• A Polish train conductor also helps smuggle Vladek across the border after he was deported to the General Government, unable to reach his family living in the annexed Reich territories.