Life and Fate Read Along, Part 3 Chapter 59

This post, covering Part 3, Chapter 59 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.

Back in Stalingrad, most of the city is still trying to come to terms with the sheer scale of destruction. 

Andreyev visits Alexandra Vladimirovna and describes his search for his old house. Andreyev “ said it had taken him a long time to find the place where his house had once stood… They were burying bodies every day, and they were still finding more in the trenches and cellars,” (p. 855). Not only are buildings, homes, and factories destroyed, but the vast network of underground tunnels and trenches now entomb the many soldiers who will never see the surface again.