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Nikolai Kretszky
The commander of the NKVD unit that deports the Vilkases. He is the personification of evil in Lina’s mind. Komorov shoots Ona, demands that the deportees sign paperwork agreeing to their criminal charges and sentencing them to 25 years of hard labor, and tortures with sleep deprivation those who do not sign. When Lina’s talent for drawing is discovered, he demands that she draw a portrait of him. Though Lina longs to draw him as she sees him—with snakes crawling out of his skull—she draws a flattering portrait to save her own life.
Komorov (The Commander) Quotes in Between Shades of Gray
The Between Shades of Gray quotes below are all either spoken by Komorov (The Commander) or refer to Komorov (The Commander). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 41 Quotes
My art teacher had said that if you breathed deeply and imagined something, you could be there. You could see it, feel it. During our standoffs with the NKVD, I learned to do that. I clung to my rusted dreams during the times of silence. It was at gunpoint that I fell into every hope and allowed myself to wish from the deepest part of my heart. Komorov thought he was torturing us. But we were escaping into a stillness within ourselves. We found strength here.
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Every other night for months, the NKVD wake the deportees in the middle of the night and try to force them to sign documents confessing their “guilt” and agreeing to 25 years of forced labor. Though many deportees do give in and sign the documents—which allows them special privileges in the present, such as going into the nearby town—Lina, Elena, and Jonas do not. In this quote, Lina reveals that she finds a way to meditate and free her mind while she is sitting in quiet, civil disobedience with a gun pointed at her head. It is in these near-death Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequat
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Komorov (The Commander) Character Timeline in Between Shades of Gray
The timeline below shows where the character Komorov (The Commander) appears in Between Shades of Gray. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 29
...followed Elena into the building. Lina peers through a window and sees Elena talking to the commander , who holds a file. Jonas urges Lina not to make trouble—or risk Ona’s fate....
(full context)
Chapter 36
...they are placed in has portraits of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin on the walls. The commander says (through Elena’s translation) that the deportees have been brought in to sign a document...
(full context)
...and intimidate people into signing, but no one does. Those who fall asleep are beaten. The commander goes up to Elena and spits something slimy into her face. Elena quickly brushes it...
(full context)
Chapter 37
...a time. Then the commander comes and demands that the women get into the hole. Komorov, the commander, points pistols at the women and tells them to put their hands on...
(full context)
Chapter 44
...drawing, Lina manages to covertly drop a pen into her lap to steal for herself. The commander comes in and observes her work, and appears surprised at her talent.
(full context)
Chapter 53
...for her. Lina reveals she stole a pen. Elena is alarmed, but Andrius clarifies that the commander wants Lina to draw his portrait. Lina wants to refuse to do it, but Andrius...
(full context)
Chapter 54
Lina is brought to the kolkhoz office and the commander enters. Lina tries to make note of his clothing and expression so she doesn’t have...
(full context)
The commander tells Kretszky to give Lina bread. Lina protests, since she was supposed to receive more...
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Chapter 68
...they are going. When they stop to load more supplies, they overhear Kretszky arguing with the commander that he wants to stay off of the barge. However, the commander insists. The passengers...
(full context)
