Part I, Chapter 18, Confrontations Summary and Analysis

In Part I, Chapter 18, Ginzburg's second round of torture lasts five days. Ginzburg still does not sign any of the documents offered to her attesting to terrorist-related activities. Ginzburg says that this was not out of a desire to be courageous, but that she was lucky because far more brutal tactics had not yet become common. As the second round of interrogations is unsuccessful, getting some sort of confession from Ginzburg falls to Lieutenant Bikchentayev. Also present at the next interrogation is Ginzburg's old friend and writer from the newspaper "Red Tartary," Volodya Dyakonov. Bikchentayev explains that he will ask Volodya questions, to which Volodya must answer and Ginzburg must respond.

Volodya states that there were important people on the staff of "Red Tartary", which Bikchentayev writes down as an affirmation that there were counterrevolutionary...