The Forgotten Soldier

Sajer is brought to a camp, but instead of finding relief after a lucky escape from a desperate situation, he is interrogated by officers who suspect him of retreating without orders and abandoning equipment. However, he is not punished, and he soon learns that the position from which he just escaped across the river has been taken by Soviet forces. He is able to sleep for a long time while awaiting reassignment to a different unit, and then on the way to a new camp, he suffers from diarrhea while still in the truck. Upon arrival he is taken to an infirmary, but then he is subject to numerous enemas, and so “any benefits I might have received from this amount of time ostensibly resting in bed were thus reduced to almost nothing” (285). His friends try to care for him, and give him the welcome news of a move further west where Sajer can stay in a real hospital. After several weeks of recovery, he receives a 10-day pass to return home. At the train station the station agent harasses him about his accent, the risk of partisans along the way, and the pointlessness of the German struggle.