Vasily Grossman, the Man Who Loved War

The artillery officer from the west is a connoisseur of stolen food: “I’ve made it a rule to eat the national dishes of every country I fight in.” Death had seasoned his dishes in Poland, France, Greece and now Ukraine: “Here they have suckling pigs, geese and turkeys. And some tasty little dumplings they call va-re-ne-ki—a dough made from white flour, filled with cherries or curd cheese and drenched in sour cream.” Food and terror tourism on the plains of Ukraine with greedy letters from loving families: “I received your parcel with silk, eau de cologne and lady’s underwear. Thank you. In one of your next parcels, you should send a warm sweater for your grandfather, a few skeins of wool, some children’s boots, etc., etc.” The adults and children from whom the goods were looted could be discarded to die in the winter. New readers of Vasily Grossman’s 1942 novel The People Immortal may see comparisons with the present invasion of Ukraine from the…