Part I, Chapter 20, New Encounters Summary and Analysis

In Part I, Chapter 20, Ginzburg is transported by a Black Maria (a nickname for a dark blue transport truck), the kind she had seen before her imprisonment, which she thought carried food or milk. The back of the truck contains cages, where Ginzburg is placed. She begins communicating with the others around her by tapping, and she and the other prisoners begin whispering. She discovers one of her former students, Yefrem, is in the truck. Yefrem has been arrested recently, and he explains to Ginzburg that many people in their village have been arrested.

Ginzburg is transferred, and Ira Yegereva is transferred in second round a short while later. The prison is overcrowded and smells horribly. Ginzburg and six others are crowded into a cell designed for three. Among those in the cell...