The Great Deportation Quiz

1) From the beginning these diary entries are heavily fragmented and occur in a stream of consciousness narrative. What is the impact of this style of writing? Why do you think Lewin wrote as he did?
- This type of writing that Lewin uses makes the reader think about the situation more rapidly. Lewin gives the reader a lot of information in a relatively short period of time, so the reader needs to quickly absorb everything on the page. This writing also gives the reader a sense of panic and makes the viewer uncomfortable. Lewin uses this type of writing in order to give the reader a real sense of what he was thinking during this time. During this period of time Lewin’s thoughts were most likely racing through his mind, this is extremely noticeable in the text.

2) On page 167, Lewin enters his diary for the first time with his own thoughts and feelings. What do you make of this moment?
- Lewin’s thoughts and feelings at the beginning don’t differ from the prior pages too much. He delivers the reader information, but doesn’t show much emotion when he does it. Lewin just gives the reader the facts and this is pretty much it. The tone of the piece does change when this occurs. The writing doesn’t seem as strict and stable as it was before he incorporated his own thoughts and feelings.

3) On page 176, Lewin learns his wife, Luba, has been seized. What do you make of his recorded reaction? Do you sense a shift in his tone in the diary after this event? If yes, what is the shift? If no, why do you think he is not fazed by this event?
- Lewin’s reaction to his wife, Luba being seized is documented very similarly to the rest of the piece. He probably shows the most emotion when this occurs, but it still doesn’t seem like this even fazes him to a point of depression or extreme sadness. After this event there is no shift of emotion or tone in his diary. The reason that Lewin doesn’t seem to be fazed after this event is rather simple. The diary is a written piece of work, Lewin isn’t standing in front of us explaining what has happened to his wife. This information is directly given to us on a piece of paper. Lewin could have been devastated by this event but the reader wouldn’t know because he didn’t write it this way.




4) What do you make of Lewin’s distance in his writing? Does this read like a typical diary? Do you see his inner thoughts? What does he choose to record?
- Lewin seems distant throughout his entire diary. He almost seems emotionless and without a voice. I got the feeling that it was very difficult for Lewin to write the things that he saw in a diary, and this can be felt by the distance in his writing. This doesn’t read like a typical diary. Lewin’s inner thoughts are not felt. Maybe the only time Lewin is remotely emotional is when he learns his wife has been deported. He records the facts, and more interestingly, very detailed facts about many mundane events. House numbers, streets, names and numbers are very detailed throughout his writing.