Sasha Zaichik Timeline and Summary

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• Sasha's dad gives him the scarf of a Young Soviet Pioneer. Sasha's super excited that he's going to be inducted into the Pioneers the following day.
• Hold the phone—Sasha's dad is arrested in the middle of the night, which probably throws a wrench into Sasha's pioneering hopes and dreams.
• As his dad instructed, Sasha goes to his aunt's house, but she and her husband can't help him: because they're afraid for their lives.
• The next day at school, Sasha accidentally breaks the nose off of a statue of Stalin. Four-Eyes falsely confesses to the crime.
• Later, Sasha stages a mini-rebellion in his classroom, and as punishment, he has to pay a visit to the State Security senior lieutenant (the dude who arrested his father).
• Sasha learns some bad news from this guy: Sasha's mom, who was an American, did not die in the hospital. His dad actually turned her in as a criminal.
• Oh, and Sasha's dad was actually a snitch, which is not very heroic after all.
• Sasha makes a deal with the senior lieutenant: he'll be a spy at the school in exchange for being allowed to become a Pioneer. Plus, he'll get to carry the banner in the ceremony today.
• As he's about to march in the Pioneers ceremony, Sasha decides he doesn't want to be a Pioneer after all, and leaves the school.
• He goes to Lubyanka prison and gets into line with roughly a thousand other people (and we're not exaggerating for poetic effect here) to wait to see his dad.
• In line, he meets a kindly woman who offers him food and a cot to sleep in.
• The two wait.