Reading for Thursday:
Vasilii Grossman, The Years of War ("Volga-Stalingrad" and "Good is Stronger than Evil")(handout)
Vera Inber, Leningrad Diary, excerpts (xeroxes available from the box outside my door)
Ilya Ehrenberg, The War (coursepack)

Grossman and Ehrenberg were both distinguished and highly popular war correspondents; Vera Inber was an acclaimed poet and journalist.

As you read the selections from Grossman, Inber and Ehrenberg, you should consider the following questions:

Do you find evidence or examples of "official rhetoric" in Grossman and/or Inber? How does Ehrenberg's memoir (published twenty years after the war) compare in this regard?

What does Grossman emphasize in his account of Stalingrad? What stands out for you in his description?

Is there anything that strikes you as particularly Russian in these accounts?