Entry Four

     One thing in this reading section that almost made me sick was when the Einsatzgruppen killed this girl Zora. Lev and Kolya had arrived at a little house along their voyage and had made friends with the girls who lived in the house. The girls were basically whores for Einsatzgruppen, a Nazi group responsible for massacres, or mass killings. Two girls in the house, Lara and Nina, told the two boys about when they killed a girl who was once in the house named Zora. They said she was the prettiest out of all of them and she was the Einsatzgruppen's favorite girl in the house. But, she used to cry all of the time because her parents died and now she was a whore because of them! So, she decided to run away in the morning. But, when the Nazi's arrived the next night and figured out she wasn't there, they went to find her. She was very frail and small, so they found her trekking through the snow, not a far distance from the house. When they brought her back, they made Lara get the head Einsatzgruppen, Abendroth, a saw. "He took the wood saw and he put the teeth of it against her ankle and he began sawing" (Benioff 132). Lara said that they sawed of both ankles and then left her there on the floor, and the girls couldn't keep her alive because she was bleeding too much. This scene involving Zora's death was what sparked my interest in the Einsatzgruppen. So, I did my glog about it. You can view it at: http://jwax999.edu.glogster.com/einsatzgruppen/.
     Another topic that is very mentioned in City of Thieves is literature, especially poetry. First of all, the whole novel, Kolya has been talking about and reciting lines from a novel called The Courtyard Hound by Ushakovo. The lines that Kolya recites are usually very good morally and usually have symbolism or deeper meanings, as well. Lev figures out that there is no book called The Courtyard Hound and no Ushakovo. This whole time, Kolya has been writing this novel in his journal almost every day and he is reciting his own lines. Lev says, "Cannibals and Nazi's didn't make Lev nervous, but the threat of embarrassment did- the possibility that a stranger might laugh at the lines he'd written" (Benioff 165). This is very good characterization of Kolya because it is very true. He is very daring, risky, and a jokester, which should have already caused his death by now. Also, Kolya says that the novel he is writing is inspired by Lev's father's poetry. Lev's father was a famous poet, and Kolya brings him up a lot throughout the novel, showing his significance and the importance of poetry in general. For this reason, I made a glog about poetry from World War II (mostly the Holocaust). You can view my glog at http://jwax999.edu.glogster.com/poetry-from-world-war-ii/.
     Lastly, Lev really grew as a person during this reading section. First of all, he is not scared to have sex anymore. Throughout the novel, Kolya has been talking about and having sex and Lev is still a virgin. They talk about sex a lot, and we figured out that Kolya was arrested as a deserter because he was walking home after having sex on New Year's Eve without any LOA papers. The first time the Einsatzgruppen showed up at the house for the girls, they never made it into the house. A group of Russians had shot all six Nazi's who showed up that night. One of the Russian soldiers was a girl named Vika. Lev had a crush on her and fantasizes about having sex with her. This shows that he is maturing from the beginning of the book. The coming of age genre is very significant in this novel, especially with Lev.

This is a photograph of an Einsatgruppen shooting a man who will fall into the pit and die with all of the other people that the Einsatzgruppen killed.