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Dasha wrote to Alexander each day; every single day she wrote hiht To be able to write to hihts, how lucky

They also wrote to their ed Babushka in Molotov

Letters back from her were rare

Theat all

When theto the post office on Old Nevsky, where an old grayher if she had any food for hi hiot a letter from Alexander to Dasha

My dear Dasha, and everyone else,

The saving grace of war is that most women don’t have to see it, only the nurses who tend to us, and they are immune to our pain

Across fro to supply the island fortress Oreshek withthat island since Septe froa just 200 meters away You reed there in 1887 for his part in the plot to assassinate Alexander III

Now that war has started, the sailors and soldiers guarding the entrance to the Neva are lauded as heroes of the New Russia -- the Russia after Hitler We are all told that after in, everything will be completely different in the Soviet Union It will be a much better life, we are promised, but for that life we have to be prepared to die Lay down your life, we are told, so your children can live

All right, we say The fighting doesn’t end, even at night Neither does the rain We have been wet all day and all night for seven days We can’t dry out Three of my men have died of pneumonia It almost seems cosmically unfair to die fro us hiht now Have you heardus Saving you Hitler diverted a large part of his Ar rad for his attack on Moscow If Moscow falls, we’re done for, but right now it’s our only reprieve

I’ wet much They still feed us officers Each day I have meat I think of you

Be well Tell Tatiana to walk close to the sides of the buildings Except when the bo and wait in a doorway Tell her to wear the helive away your bread Stay clear of the roof

And use the soap I left you Res when you’re clean My father told me that I will add it’s impossible to keep yourself clean on the winter front But on the plus side, it’s so cold here that the lice that spread typhus can’t live

Believe me when I tell you I think of you every ain, I remain distantly

Yours,

Alexander

Tatiana wore the helmet She used the soap She waited in the doorways But for some reason all she could think about with a peculiar and prolonged aching, as she didn’t take off her felt boots, her felt hat, and her quilted coat, which Ma ht in his unifora