Between Shades of Gray: Chapter 19 Summary & Analysis

The train with the Russian soldiers rolls away. Ona screams in anguish over the death of her child, but the bald man rudely tells her it is better off dead. Andrius yells at him, and tells him to shut up and stop being so pessimistic. No one tells Andrius to stop, and they are silently grateful that someone has said something to the bald man. Elena takes the baby from Ona, promising not to give it to the guards and to wrap it in something beautiful. The bald man replies that things aren’t going to get better with Germany invading—Hitler will only make things worse. Jonas returns from getting the buckets, and learns that the baby has died. Distraught, he marks the death of the child and beats the ground in anger. Andrius tells Lina to let him do it so as to get used to the constant deaths, since they will not stop anytime soon.

People discuss what might happen with Hitler in Lithuania. Lina wonders what her father would say, and recalls her parents whispering about politics late into the night. She misses her father terribly, and imagines his smiling face. In a flashback, she recalls drawing a portrait of her father. They discuss her cousin Joana, who wants to be a doctor. Lina has written her a note but hasn’t heard back, which Kostas attributes to her hard studying. Joana is seventeen, and Lina looks up to her very much. When Lina shows her father the portrait, he notes that her signature is so scribbled that no one will be able to read it. Lina replies that he will know it’s hers.