If as a Jew and infant survivor of genocide I can receive these ravings calmly, it’s because I know they’re not about me or my grandparents or even about World War II or Nazis and Jews. Ralph is showcasing the terrible unrest of his soul. The suffering Germans and rapacious Jews in his narrative are projections of his own phantoms. The erratic mishmash he calls history reflects his inner chaos, confusion, and fear. “I starved in Germany as a kid and I fuckin’ starved in this country, too.… Came here in 1961.” (Ralph arrived as a teenager.) “Fuck Canadians. I hate Canadians.”
