Jonás had just turned 30 and had been in the labor camp for almost two years. In addition to the years of his sentence, he faced the harsh daily work and the severity of the physical punishments imposed on the prisoners and even the guards themselves. The young man had been searching for this moment for several days, and now it had finally arrived. The punishment would be 40 lashes in front of the entire camp personnel. After the day's work, he was taken to the dreaded execution corner, where everyone was already waiting, expectant and fearful. A special structure had been set up for this punishment, a kind of gate with shackles on the crossbar and on the ground, which allowed the prisoner to be tied up in the shape of an X without having to approach a post or wall. This way, any part of the anatomy could be accessed without any spot on the skin being protected from the blows.

The rules also dictated that the prisoner receive the lashes completely naked, so that if the executioner made the mistake (which he would also pay for) of missing a blow, the lash would not be wasted on clothing. When Jonás arrived at the gate, he removed his shirt and then his boots and socks, which were suitable for the harsh terrain. He then removed his pants, followed by his underwear, a youthful black slip from a well-known textile brand. His nakedness did not cause him any shame, as there were no women for miles around, and all he was worried about was the terrible pain he knew he was about to endure in the next few minutes.

Once he was tied up with his hands and feet apart, a sturdy guard, slightly younger than Jonás, appeared and quickly unfurled an American-style whip of surprising length. This model, the prison's favorite, required special skill to cause the maximum possible pain without causing excessive injuries, although these and their aftermath were inevitable. The first lash, as terrible as the ones that followed, provoked a stifled cry from Jonás, who tried not to shout louder but was left shuddering as he thought he couldn't bear the rest. The second lash came at the right moment, intended to let the young man savor the pain of the blow but not allow him to recover before the next one, which fell on his back, side, and chest like a bolt of lightning.

The technique was complex: the executioner, who always wore a sleeveless shirt to facilitate arm agility, would spin the whip two or three times over his head to give it force, then bring it down furiously on the prisoner and almost immediately jerk it back abruptly, so the leather would sear the skin as it recoiled. For several minutes, the only sounds were the whip spinning in the air, the crack against the body, and the almost simultaneous cry of pain. After the first twenty lashes, Jonás thought he would go mad with pain. He cried out for a while longer until his legs refused to hold him up. However, he did not lose consciousness until he was dragged, naked, to his barracks...