Salt to the Sea

Salt to the Sea

by

Ruta Sepetys

Nemmersdorf Term Analysis

A city in East Prussia and the site of a 1944 Soviet massacre of German civilians.

Nemmersdorf Quotes in Salt to the Sea

The Salt to the Sea quotes below are all either spoken by Nemmersdorf or refer to Nemmersdorf. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Agency, Willpower, and Fate Theme Icon
).
103. Emilia Quotes

Everything hurt. My strength dissolved into exhaustion.

Wasn’t a person supposed to feel better after telling the truth? Perhaps there was no peace because Joana hadn’t understood or hadn’t heard me. Was it enough to admit the lie to yourself and the heavens, or did you have to tell someone who listened?
For months I had done so well. Most days I actually believed my own story. Yes, August Kleist existed. He visited the farm for a while during my stay. He carried wood for me, climbed the ladder so I didn’t have to, shared his plums, and defended me in front of his mother. He did it all because he was a kind person. But I didn’t exist for him the way he existed for me. He left before it happened.

Related Characters: Emilia Stozek (speaker), Joana Vilkas, Eva, August Kleist, Erna Kleist
Page Number: 238
Explanation and Analysis:
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Nemmersdorf Term Timeline in Salt to the Sea

The timeline below shows where the term Nemmersdorf appears in Salt to the Sea. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
14. Joana
Agency, Willpower, and Fate Theme Icon
...like Emilia, which might have protected her from the Nazis). However, Emilia was sent to Nemmersdorf, which Soviet forces massacred just under a year ago. Eva and Joana wonder what kind... (full context)
15. Florian
Memory and Survival  Theme Icon
Family and Community vs. Selfishness  Theme Icon
...outside for a stick for Florian to bite. Joana tells Florian that Emilia came from Nemmersdorf, and he immediately understands. (full context)
16. Emilia
Agency, Willpower, and Fate Theme Icon
Memory and Survival  Theme Icon
Family and Community vs. Selfishness  Theme Icon
...to disappear forever.” She remembers meeting a Polish woman on the road as she fled Nemmersdorf. The woman told her that Nazis had killed hundreds of thousands of Polish Jews in... (full context)
37. Emilia
Storytelling and Fantasy  Theme Icon
Family and Community vs. Selfishness  Theme Icon
...to Emilia to ask her about her pregnancy. Eva wonders if the Soviet soldiers at Nemmersdorf raped Emilia. Emilia tells her no, she is pregnant with a boy named August’s child.... (full context)