ELEVEN

“My name is Schwarz,” said the inmate, as he went up to Silbermann to shake hands. “I’m completely normal,” he added right away. “And what did you do wrong?”

“Nothing,” said Silbermann, and sat down on the bunk.

Schwarz followed him. “I see what you’re doing,” he replied. “I get it.”

Silbermann wrinkled his forehead. He didn’t find his cellmate particularly sympathetic. His face alone triggered a certain repulsion: it was spongy and lacked structure, with heavily bloodshot eyes.

“What I’m doing?” Silbermann asked and lay down.

“Your ploy. The reason you wound up here and not … Everybody wants to get off the hook by pretending to be mad. I did as well! But I’m completely normal.”

“I believe it,” Silbermann replied, closing his eyes.

Schwarz shook his shoulder. “They’re planning to sterilize me!” he said, frightened.

“What are they planning?” Silbermann sat up.

“They want to sterilize me. I stole a handbag and then I pretended to be crazy. And now they want to sterilize me! But I’m not going to let them. I’m not schizophrenic. I’m normal. I have a fiancée. I…” Schwarz paced back and forth inside the cell.

Silbermann pressed his hands against his temples. “I have a headache,” he said.

Schwarz interrupted his pacing. “I see what you’re up to!” he stated. “But they’re going to sterilize you as well!”

“Nonsense,” said Silbermann calmly.

“It’s not nonsense! What did you do? Tell me what you did wrong!”

“Nothing at all,” Silbermann repeated, irritated. “I’m Jewish, if you really want to know.”

“So that’s your ploy,” Schwarz declared. He leaned over Silbermann’s bunk. “Racial defilement, eh, is that it?” he asked, and smiled idiotically.

Silbermann turned to the wall. The trusty opened the door and shoved some food into the cell.

“You,” said Schwarz. “This man’s a Jew. I refuse to put up with that. I’m a National Socialist. I don’t want to be in the same cell as a Jew…”

“You better pipe down,” said the trusty. “Pretty soon now they’ll be taking you to get sterilized.”

“No!” Schwarz roared. “No!”

The trusty grinned and shut the door. Schwarz paced up and down the cell. Then he went to the door and started drumming.

“Jews out!” he shouted. “Jews out!”

His shouting was picked up by other insane inmates, and soon there were dozens of jumbled voices shouting: “Jews out! Jews out!”

Silbermann leapt from his bunk. “Shut up,” he screamed.

Schwarz looked at him, frightened, and went silent. But the others kept shouting: “Jews out, Jews out!”

“They’re going to sterilize you, too,” Schwarz whispered, and huddled in the corner, scared. “They’re going to sterilize you for sure!”

The guard’s key jangled in the lock.

“What’s going on here?” he asked.

“I don’t want to be with a Jew…”

“What you want or don’t want doesn’t matter here…”

The prisoner was silent. After the guard left, Schwarz started shouting again: “Jews out! Jews out!”