All Quiet on the Western Front

How does Paul spend time at the training camp? Chapters 8-9

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Paul has previously been to the camp on the moors for training, but he hardly knows anyone there now. He settles into a routine: he plays piano at night, spends little time socializing, and absorbs himself in nature. A Russian prison camp is adjacent to theirs. Paul observes the enemy prisoners' "honest peasant" faces as they feebly search and grovel for food. Most of the Germans ignore them, though sometimes the prisoners' groveling angers them and they kick them. The prisoners also trade their superior boots for food, although now most have few possessions left to barter. Paul frequently guards the Russians, watching them mass around the fence in near-silence.