Summary

Skinny, Ervin Adler and the narrator have returned to Prague following the end of the War. They talk about their reactions to the past, present and future. At first, Skinny spent the majority of her time with other survivors whose families had all been killed, and visited the welfare department of the Jewish Community for food. She is haunted by her experiences and they have shaped her behavior in ways that continue even after the threat has passed. Skinny contemplates emigrating to somewhere far away, to avoid people she knows asking her what happened to her during the war. She does not want to tell anyone that she worked in a brothel and is worried that people know when they ask her questions. When she visits her old neighborhood, the people she knew, such as Slavomir Slama cannot understand what has happened in...