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Janina
A blonde NKVD soldier who seems to take pleasure in torturing Lina, Elena, and the other deportees. Under circumstances Lina does not fully understand, Elena manages to strike up a friendship with Kretszky. When Elena dies, Kretszky expresses remorse at her loss, recalling how he felt when he lost his own mother. He ultimately defects from the class and alerts higher-ranking officials in the Soviet Union of the horrors in the camps, bringing relief that, although it does not immediately release the prisoners, at least saves them from imminent death.
Nikolai Kretszky Quotes in Between Shades of Gray
The Between Shades of Gray quotes below are all either spoken by Nikolai Kretszky or refer to Nikolai Kretszky. 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 51 Quotes
I grabbed our family photo and stuffed it up my dress. I would hide it on the way to the kolkhoz office. Kretszky didn’t notice. He stood motionless, holding his rifle, staring at all the photographs.
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Chapter 66 Quotes
Mother grabbed my arm. Pain shot up into my shoulder. She spoke through clenched teeth. “We don’t know. Do you hear me? We don’t know what he is. He’s a boy. He’s just a boy.” Mother let go of my arm. “And I’m not lying with him,” she spat at Jonas. “How dare you imply such a thing.”
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Chapter 82 Quotes
“No, I saw it. She was pretty. Krasivaya.”
No. Not that word. I was supposed to learn it on my own. Not from Kretszky.
“It means beautiful, but with strength,” he slurred. “Unique.”
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Chapter 84 Quotes
“Dr. Samodurov, how did you find us?” I asked him.
“Nikolai Kretszky,” was all he said.
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Nikolai Kretszky Character Timeline in Between Shades of Gray
The timeline below shows where the character Nikolai Kretszky appears in Between Shades of Gray. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 35
...that he has found out the name of the blond guard who oversees the digging: Kretszky. Lina tells Andrius she wants to send a letter to Kostas in the nearby post...
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Chapter 37
...the commander is just trying to scare them into signing the documents. The blond guard Kretszky helps Lina out of the hole. They dig in silence for the rest of the...
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Chapter 43
One day while in the beet field, Kretzsky comes by looking for someone who can draw. Lina is nervous that they have found...
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Chapter 51
...break up the Christmas Eve celebration to try and intimidate them to sign the documents. Kretszky stands motionless, staring at all the photographs.
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Chapter 54
The commander tells Kretszky to give Lina bread. Lina protests, since she was supposed to receive more as compensation....
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Chapter 55
...the children. A can cuts Lina’s face. When a sack hits Jonas, the officers cheer. Kretszky tells the children he is going to report them for stealing food. They quickly grab...
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Chapter 63
...and eventually stop and are allowed to relieve themselves in the grass at a field. Kretszky is also on the truck with them. They then stop at a train station and...
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Chapter 65
...they get off the train, Elena collapses, and others quickly help her up. She sees Kretszky and greets him as “Nikolai.” The deportees lie on the ground until morning, and Jonas...
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Chapter 66
...to cover up since the guards are watching. Jonas then accuses Elena of sleeping with Kretszky. Elena grabs Lina’s arm painfully and harshly rebukes Jonas for implying such a thing. The...
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Chapter 68
...one knows where 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...
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Chapter 71
...in case the opportunity to steal presents itself. Jonas notices that Elena is talking to Kretszky.
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Chapter 72
...to feed her children. The polar night begins and the days and nights are freezing. Kretszky sees them, and throws pieces of wood at them to use for firewood. The first...
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Chapter 75
...survive. When she goes to the wood stacks, she sees Elena talking to Ivanov and Kretszky. Ivanov laughs, mimes shooting a gun to his head, and leaves. Elena flinches and her...
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Chapter 76
...tries, she can only picture her father’s bloody face through the bathroom hole. She hopes Kretszky had the wrong information, and that there is a mistake. She feels her drawings have...
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Chapter 78
...all they can do is pray. In the jurta, Elena tells Lina to apologize to Kretszky for saying she hated him. Elena reveals that he once helped her escape from near-rape...
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Chapter 79
...“doctor,” “medicine,” “mother,” and “please.” She goes to the NKVD barracks in the hopes that Kretszky can help her mother. Ivanov laughs at her and tells her to leave, and takes...
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Chapter 81
...a funeral procession, and eventually many deportees join in the march and pray for Elena. Kretszky sees the procession and becomes silent when he realizes it is for Elena.
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Chapter 82
...coming, and Lina goes to steal extra firewood despite the danger this poses. She encounters Kretszky, who is drinking behind the NKVD barracks. Slurring, he tells her that he could tell...
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Chapter 83
Lina is confused as to why she comforted Kretszky despite her deep hatred of the NKVD. The next day, Kretszky is gone. February arrives,...
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Chapter 84
...asks how the doctor knew to come to the camp, all he replies is “Nikolai Kretzsky.”
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