The Truce

During the three days in Zhmerinka, the Italians aboard the train are reduced to “penury” (290). They will soon be sent to an unknown destination, but the lack of available information, resources, and supplies leaves them in limbo in the large agricultural village.

Other trains with other passengers pass through the railway depot. These include captured German prisoners who ask for bread; though many of their relatives were killed by Nazis in the war or in the camps, Levi observes the Italians giving bread to the Germans. There are also Ukrainian women who are castigated by the Russians for working with the Germans.

The Italians leave Zhmerinka and head north. Levi travels in a crowded train until, during one stop, he and Cesare find an unused medical carriage. They spend the rest of the journey in this relative comfort. When they reach a large Soviet camp, they are collected with other prisoners from other countries.

In this place, Levi sees his Greek friend Mordo Nahum for the last time. They greet cordially and, during the course of the conversation, Mordo offers Levi access to women, pointing to “twenty huge sleepy girls” (296).