Summary

Chapter one briefly describes a German prisoner camp as it is approached by a truck driver, "comrade Apfel" (20), and his driving mate. They are stalled outside the camp waiting for the wagons to be disinfected.

Chapter two introduces Mostovskoy, a prisoner in the German camp. Mostovskoy learns from a fellow prisoner, Gardi, an Italian priest, about the "fifty-six different nationalities in the camp" (20). The narrator describes the camp as made up of many different types of people from many different classes and occupations. The "innovations of Fascism" (21) are described, one of which, for example, is the mixed detainment of political prisoners with prisoners-of-war. Mostovskoy is struck by the fact that the camp is largely run and managed by the prisoners themselves, and also that the Nazis who are in charge there seem to be very human and sympathetic.

Chapter three describes...