‘Down there no one thinks it will be over soon. People think it will take a very long time indeed.’ The orderly looked at the naked lieutenant. Bach remembered that hospital personnel had instructions to report on the morale of the wounded. And he himself had just expressed a lack of confidence in the might of the armed forces. He said very distinctly: ‘Yes, just how it will turn out is anyone’s guess.’ What had made him repeat these dangerous words? No one can understand unless he himself lives in a totalitarian empire.
