Summary

In Chapter 7, Sasha is moved by Kolya's journal. She hates that it is hidden away. She wonders if Grandma knows about it. Sasha is now 11 years old, and she knows she cannot confront Galya, though she wants to. She imagines the scene that would follow. Instead, she asks Galya about the NKVD, a term she read in the journal. When Galya questions her, Sasha says she heard it from kids at school. Galya says it stands for the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs. This group arrested Grandma's brother Volya for telling a joke to an informer. Sasha compares the arrest to the way Marik's father was arrested. She asks if they are all supposed to be silent. Galya says Volya never returned. His daughter Nina died in the military a short time later. Volya's wife Lilya collapsed when she got the news. Galya...