confinement was that to have companions meant to have their griefs as well. We all suffered with the women whose men were in this camp: the discipline in the male section was much harsher than in the women’s; executions were frequent. Almost every day a salvo of shots would send the anguished whispers flying: How many this time? Who were they? The woman next to me at the relay bench was an intense Communist woman named Floor. She and her husband had managed to get their two small children to friends before