A Meal In Winter

This time the story is told from the point of view of the German soldier.  Author, Hubert Mingarelli captures the cold, hunger and despair of three German soldiers caught in the war machine.

The beautiful prose is captured by translator, Sam Taylor, describing the cold harsh climate of winter in Poland as the three soldiers set out to capture what they refer to as "one of them" , a Jewish male and bring him back to camp.  The three, Emmerich, Bauer and the narrator set out to capture "the Jew" to escape the work they are assigned to do as part of their regiment.  When they leave camp they think they have gotten a reprieve from the horrendous duties they know they will have to perform the next day.  They trudge off through the snow with lightened hearts.  They capture their unnamed prisoner and decide to spend the night in an abandoned house along the way.  There they meet an unnamed Pole, who through the night challenges their belief on life and death and each of the three German soldiers must wrestle with their own conscience.

Interestingly, three characters in this story are never called by name, the narrator, the Jewish prisoner, and the Polish hunter they meet in the woods.  Each man confronts the cold, hunger and his own feelings about anti-Semitism.  Through their shared experience in the house and the knowledge of what awaits the soldiers back at army base they try to enjoy this time away.  But their personal backgrounds and the tension that builds through night affects their reactions to the situation in front of them.

Though a short novel in length, this is a deep and expressive plot that will keep the reader thinking for quite a while after putting the book down.  So descriptive is the narrative that you feel the cold and fear that builds as the story progresses.  Maybe by not giving names to the three characters the reader has a chance to put himself in each of their shoes and see which person he most relates to.  A way to take on a persona in the novel and find out where he would fit in emotionally in this situation.