x Sasha’s dad’s office is on the third floor of this yellow-brick building on Lubyanka Square in Moscow, the headquarters of the secret police. Sasha is not allowed to visit his dad in his office, but later this is where Sasha comes to visit his dad in prison.

x Tretyakov, Nosov, and Pogromov are the secret police guards who accompany the Senior Lieutenant during the arrest of Sasha’s dad. All three are exhausted from lack of sleep. Night after night these guards are ordered to perform the same mission: arrest the enemies of the people, search their homes, and deliver them to Lubyanka prison; the make several raids a night.

x When Sasha’s dad is arrested, he knows what is ahead of him. He himself arrested many people before. He knows that the guards will shackle him. He knows to keep his shackled wrists as still as possible. The handcuffs are designed to close tighter with the prisoner’s slightest move.

x The secret policemen responsible for nightly arrests prepare to defend themselves against the enemies of the people. They use the courtyard of Lubyanka as a shooting range. The massive walls of the building surrounding the courtyard silences the gunfire, but the inmates of the ground floor prison hear it and shudder at the sound.

x The door to Sasha’s dad’s cell is padlocked; the warden on duty keeps the key. Each padlock in prison is different so no single key opens more than one door.

x This is the room where the Senior Lieutenant, along with two other officers, interrogates Sasha’s dad. The interrogators take turns, but Sasha’s dad is denied sleep for weeks. Sasha’s dad signs the confession – everyone does – he admits to spying for foreign powers with the intention to overthrow the Soviet government. Next the Senior Lieutenant is promoted, but in time he too is denounced as an enemy of the people. No one is safe in Lubyanka.

x Inside the prison secrecy prevails. The prisoners are not allowed to see each other. Leading Sasha’s dad to and from his interrogations, the guard jingles the keys to let other guards know the prisoner is out of the cell. If another prisoner is led through the corridor at the same time, the guard turns him to face the wall so he can’t see Sasha’s dad passing.