that short fiction site.

One morning, in the dead of winter, three German soldiers head out into the frozen Polish countryside. They have been charged by their commanders to track down and bring back for execution ‘one of them’ – a Jew. Having flushed out a young man hiding in the woods, they decide to rest in an abandoned house before continuing their journey back to the camp. As they prepare food, they are joined by a passing Pole whose virulent anti-Semitism adds tension to an already charged atmosphere. Before long, the group’s sympathies begin to splinter as each man is forced to confront his own conscience as the moral implications of their murderous mission become clear.

(Granta)

Title
A Meal in Winter
Author
Hubert Mingarelli
Translated by
Sam Taylor
Original language
French
Type
Novella
Pages
144
Publisher
Granta
Published
2014