Life and Fate Read Along, Part 2 Chapter 11

This post, covering Part 2, Chapter 11 is part of The Slavic Literature Pod’s chapter a day read along of Vasily Grossman’s Life and Fate. Learn more about our project here.

Today we gain even deeper insight into Lieutenant Bach and his journey from a person who used to hate Hitler to someone who claims that only the German state can give the fullest expression to his soul.

In fact, the idea of a “German soul” continues to play an increasingly important role in Bach’s radicalization. He concludes in this chapter “What greater truth could there be today than the truth of the German soul?” (p. 376). Once Bach is convinced of the superiority of the German soul and the truth he believes it expresses, it only follows that Bach begins to accept the dehumanization and outright annihilation of others.