But Rachel, I am so old that I am beginning to forget, and that scares me.
-- Nana Sashie (Chapter 1 paragraph 18)

Importance: Nana Sashie tells Rache that she wants to share the story of her childhood because she is beginning to forget. She doesn’t want the story to be forgotten.

Just the way the Nazi holocaust happened. People — those in power, the so-called leaders — take a group of people, who because of their looks or practices or beliefs, appear slightly different from the majority. Anything different can be perceived as a threat. These leaders begin to think of the differences and not the things they have in common. Gradually they dehumanize these people, make them into abstractions. It’s very easy to kill an abstraction. And your great-great-great-grandparents had become that to the Russian government.
-- Nana Sashie (Chapter 3 paragraph 22)

Importance: Nana Sashie tries to explain to Rache why the Russians decided to kill the Jewish people, like her own great-great-great...