Bread

Bread is survival. At one of the stops on the way to Siberia, a soldier “tosses in several hunks of bread” (9) and it immediately starts a fight among the women in the train car. All are hungry, and to get a piece of bread means the smallest amount of nourishment to stave off hunger and survive. Every time Cilka is given bread, she breaks it in half. One part goes into her clothing for later, and the other she eats. This is a routine she follows in Auschwitz, carries over into the gulag, and teaches Josie as well. Since one never knows when the next nourishment will appear, it is best to be prepared.

Lace

Lace is a symbol of feminine identity. Upon arrival at the gulag, women prisoners had their heads and pubic areas shaved in public. The clothing they receive is a coarse cloth...