The Endless Steppe

In hopes of crossing paths with Yuri, an upperclassman she is in infatuated with, Esther runs for and wins the position of editor for the school newspaper. Esther enjoys being the editor but realizes that it will not help her spend time with Yuri. She tries different ways of getting close to him—being tutored by a woman who lives near him and seeking advice from Natasha’s fortune-telling cards—but nothing works. At the same time, another boy, Shurik, is pursuing Esther. To Esther, Shurik is just a friend.

Esther is excited about a masquerade party at school and fantasizes about going with Yuri. She asks to borrow a costume from a theater company but is refused. In the end, she borrows a dress from Anya and goes to the party with Shurik. At the party, Esther is angry; Yuri’s dance partner, the daughter of the head of a factory, is wearing the same costume dress that Esther was harshly denied.

In the spring, thousands of German prisoners of war arrive in the village and are treated with contempt. In May, the war with Germany ends. Just weeks before, the news of Roosevelt’s death struck the Rudomins with fear and grief. After the joy of the war ending, the news of the Holocaust—including the complete decimation of Esther’s extended family—arrives.