EXCERPT
IT SO HAPPENED THAT, during the World War, two mortally wound- ed Jews were brought into a hospital, both within the same hour. One was a German — the other was a French- man. Their beds adjoined each other. For a long time they lay toss- ing about, wracked by fever and pain. The Jewish chaplain fluttered from one to another, trying desperately to get them to accept each other as Jews. Before he left them, he said: “I cannot possibly spend any more time with you. Therefore I beg of you — talk to each other. Both of you are Jews, even though one is French and the other is German. Surely, as Jews you both share the same whole-hearted devotion to your fatherlands and to your par- ents, you are tormented by the same longing for your wives and children at home, by the same anxieties, and the same suffering, and soon both of you will stand before the same God. There certainly must be some vir- tues as well as vices that you both have in common. Therefore, I must plead with you — unburden your hearts to each other.” The Rabbi went away. The two Jews lay silent for a long time. The Frenchman, who began to feel some- what better, moved his parched lips: “What have we got to say to each other anyway?” The German did not answer. “No doubt you are right for not talking to me. But I believe I am jus- tified in wanting to talk to you. There- fore I say: ‘A curse on you Germans for attacking us! A curse on your Hun Kai- ser who has ravished Belgium, whose soldiers murder little children and rape women! A curse on all of you!’” After saying this, the Frenchman sank wearily back on his pillow. Then the German replied:
The Enemies by PAUL SCHLESINGER
54 WINTER 2025/2026
ILLUSTRATION BY ANNITA SOBLE
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