A third, called the Idiot, sings dirty songs. Discovering that they responded well to stories, he told them Russian tales. He was not unaware of the irony that he, a Polish- Jewish doctor, was comforting them in the language of his oppressor. Every spare moment the young lieutenant spent exploring the devastated Chinese towns and villages. Chinese famine, Chinese orphan misery, Chinese mass mortality.
War is an abomination.
Especially because no one reports how many children are hungry, ill-treated, and left without protection. Visiting a village school, he was shocked to see a teacher, reeking of vodka and opium, beating his pupils on their heels with a thick yardstick. Lieutenant Goldszmit managed to buy the yardstick, though he knew that after a few days the teacher would make a new one. He would tell them that, though Chinese children look different and use a different alphabet, all children are the same. When a military delegation arrived to punish the rebellious soldiers, they asked Lieutenant Goldszmit to represent them.