In chapter 18 Ginzburg is put on the conveyor belt again for five days, returning to her cell for three hours each day. Because she still refuses to sign either of the two statements offered to her. Two witnesses are brought in, one at time. Ginzburg knows both these witnesses and instead of them trying to help her they lie to protect themselves. Both the witnesses had the same answer which made it look bad for Ginzburg even though they were lying to protect themselves. Both of the witnesses felt bad because she was their friend but they were protecting themselves.
If you were in this situation would you try to help a friend or try to protect yourself and your family?
Would silence have stopped the purges?
I would like to say that I would not give up my friends in order to save myself, but there’s no way of knowing until it happens. I do not think silence would have stopped the purges, because people would still be accused. There would be less of an excuse for the government, but I do not think that would have stopped them.
I agree with Grace; I wouldn’t sacrifice my friends for self preservation, but I don’t think I can accurately assess that until I am in that position. I also don’t think silence would’ve stopped anything .