Summary

In the story “A True Story,” the narrator lies on a rough straw mattress in the hospital and believes he is going to die. He daydreams of cold water. In the bed next to him, Kapo Kwasniak has half of an apple, a piece of bread, and a cup of coffee. Every time he hears Tadek move, the man demands that he tell him a story. He wants to hear stories from Tadek’s own life. Tadek tells the man the story of a boy with a Bible. The men try to get the boy to admit he was a Jew but the boy will not do so. His name is Zbigniew Namokel. The Kapo tells Tadek the story is not true as the boy had been in the bed next to him with typhoid fever. The Kapo claims the boy died...