Serraillier draws the reader’s attention to the devastation of Poland and Germany caused by active combat, bombing campaigns, and the intentional destruction of civilian and agricultural infrastructure by the German Scorched Earth policy and similar policies of the Russians. The destruction of Warsaw is conveyed through Joseph’s shock, having not seen the now-destroyed city in years: “there was hardly a street he recognized and not an undamaged building anywhere […] instead of proud homes, he found crumbling walls; instead of streets, tracks of rubble between mountains of bricks” (13). Streets of proud houses, connoting peace, and civilization, are juxtaposed with imagery of crumbling walls and rubble after years of war, illustrating the extent of the destruction and devastation of war. Similarly, Berlin, once a city of culture and grandeur, is filled with rubble and destruction: “buildings that had stood for generations had been wiped out” (46). As in the case of Warsaw, Serraillier conveys the devastating loss of historical and cultural sites in the city.

This destruction causes mass displacement throughout Europe. The chaos of living in partially destroyed cities and towns, amid compromised infrastructure and massive worker shortages, is exacerbated by the influx of refugees.