Part One - Russia Summary and Analysis

Part One is divided into three chapters. The section is labeled as "Autumn, 1942." Chapter 1 - Toward Stalingrad focuses on the author's unit's travels from Bialystok to Minsk, on to Kiev, and finally to Kharkov. The journey is made through November and the weather turns steadily colder. The soldiers suffer much from the cold and the temperature is a major preoccupation of the narrative. Most of the journey is made in the company of Lensen, Olensheim, and Hals, who speak French. Also mentioned are Morvan and Uterbeick who is at first friendly but later distant. The initial trip to Minsk finds the soldiers much disgusted with the lack of planning and efficiency—they often miss trains and have to sleep outside and so forth. Sajer states that most of the teenage soldiers find this incomprehensible...