In a cattle car on the way to the gas chambers are an assortment of characters: a librarian, an accountant, a “shy girl” and David, “a boy.”
Each of these characters gets a section in their point of view. David gets whole chapters. He was visiting his grandmother in Ukraine when the war caught him. Swept up in the pogroms, his grandmother died in the ghetto, and David was put into a cattle car bound for a gas chamber.
During the night he shouted out: “Mummy, Mummy, Mummy!” His mother woke up. As she came towards him, she was like a white cloud in the darkness. He yawned blissfully, knowing that the strongest power in the whole world was now defending him from the darkness of the forest.
— life and fate, p. 206
Kanlaon 
4 responses to “Life and Fate, p. 206: David”
If only
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So hard, to read the little boy’s point of view. Yes, if only.
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Another thought. His Grandmother was in the Ukrain,almost makes it here and now. I hope things never come to that. Yet humankind will always find a way to blame and be rid of somebodies.
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This book about World War II’s Eastern front could have been lifted from today’s headlines. I’ve been holding myself back, or I’d be quoting almost every page.
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