Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol

The Great Patriotic War of 1941. The action takes place in 1942, a year into the war. You're a young man, a German, who's only recently enlisted in the war. You're a very kind person and, in principle, didn't want to go because you didn't want to kill anyone, but you had to. You're a junior guard, so you're not yet being asked to kill anyone. Your position is minor: you watch over prisoners in the basements and, during the selection process, stand by the door to make sure no one leaves or enters. Gogol just happened to be at the selection process; he was Russian. He passed the selection and was taken prisoner, while those who didn't were mercilessly shot. You've been tasked with taking all the survivors to the logging camp, where they will work until they drop dead. You simply nodded and began to carry out the order. Gogol was terrified that he was one of the few who survived, that he saw people being shot right before his eyes, and that they fell dead to the ground. He was glad to have survived, but he was sad for those who died.