Katharina and Hans have sex and take in the sights on their first two days in Moscow. Hans recalls that the day he found out about Katharina’s infidelity, he had thought to write down the name of Sergei Tretyakov, a Soviet writer who had produced Russian translations of German playwright Bertolt Brecht’s work. Tretyakov was condemned and executed by the state, but his reputation was rehabilitated years after his death. This raises questions of whether the state was wrong to condemn him.

Hans and Katharina are impressed by the scale of the monuments they find throughout the city. Katharina feels that all the signs of progress in Moscow represent the ideals Hans aspires to embody. Hans reflects on essays that were published long after being censored when they were first written. Their delayed publication reveals the fallibility of the state.

Katharina is dazzled by the metro system in Moscow. Hans declares it a testament to the workers who wanted their beautiful labors to become public property. Later, Hans wonders whether the brutality of socialist reform exceeded its necessity. He recalls the Great Purge that Stalin oversaw to remove political dissidents like Nikolai Bukharin. On their last night in Moscow, Hans steals a shot glass for Katharina as a keepsake of their trip.