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190 26 An Apple Core Few experiences could move me. On one of those milder days that occasionally interrupted the rough winter, I had an experience that did. I was still digging ditches. Our guards were also affected by the spring-like streak in the air; they moved more slowly and did not push us as hard. I was part of a large group of laborers walking through the forest. At a crossroad the unit was divided into smaller groups. My unit was directed to an open field surrounded by pine forests. In summer it undoubtedly was covered with wild flowers. Half of the area was an orchard of young apple trees that had been planted just a few years before, since the start of the war when any opportunity was used to grow what was edible. I started to work when the man next to me called in a friendly voice to help him move aside a heavy rock so that he could continue the ditch he was working on. We recognized each oter; I knew him from Prague. Kurtl had been a jazz pianist in one of the fine bars and I had always enjoyed his playing. We worked hard to release the rock while we exchanged pleasant memories. Later, he managed to get an accordion and succeeded in making a special place for himself in the camp as a musician. When I returned to my place, I spotted the remains of a dried out apple core lying under a tree. It was rotten and reduced to nearly nothing , a shadow of its glorious fruitful past. I put it in my mouth and even though there was no fresh flesh left on it there remained a faint taste of apple. This was the first “fruit” I had tasted in two years. It brought back the richness of life in the past, of food beyond the daily soup and bread. It also reminded me of my grandmother, who had never missed an opportunity to tell us children that the most important value of the fruit lay in its core. She had impressed upon us the mystery of the potency of the core. As children we did not find it as much a delicacy as the rest of the apple. On that day in the clearing of Thuringia I changed my mind. 191 That rotten apple core was the most delicious taste I had experienced in a long time. I have enjoyed eating the core of the apple since that time. An Apple Core ...

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