ou can read about things that make peoples identities change, be it atrocities of war or a horrible experience like rape. The difference however and also the main topic of this paper lies in emotional wounds and their possible healing.In “The bakers story” a poem is written about a baker and his wife, both holocaust survivors, and the regularly visits Duba and her husband made to the bakery shop. The husband of Duba, reminds the baker of one of his children, who died in the camps just like the rest of his whole family. Actually this was the baker’s second wife whom he had met in Auschwitz. The baker later asks the Duba’s husband about his roots. “Could they possibly be related?” is his real question. The husband however does not have sufficient knowledge about his background to answer the question. Later Duba and her husband move away from the area and for a while they do not see the bakers couple. When Duba visits the baker again she finds out about the death of his wife. After hearing this she replies (p61)”I am so sorry I didn’t know she as ill”. The baker whispers to her that she wasn’t really sick and that THEY killed her. Stating that the nazi’s have infiltrated America’s hospitals.This section illustrates how the atrocities of war and the horrors of the death camps must have had on this individual. It’s unlikely that his wife was actually killed. The more realistic option would be that his wife died of cancer since that disease can kill in a very short time. Also the questioning of the background of Duba’s husband portrays the baker’s traumatized identity because the chance of a customer being related to you is very little.What this poem in essence is telling us is that a lot of survivors of the death camp are still very much frightened of the nazi’s and their atrocities. A baker that asks for family roots to a random customer and thin...
