The Second World War has ended, and Seeger, Olson, and Welch — all American soldiers — have obtained passes to go to Paris. The only trouble is that they do not have nearly enough money. Seeger goes to Captain Taney to ask for money; he is humiliated at the prospect, but Taney kindly halves his money and gives Seeger two hundred francs. Olson and Welch are disappointed by this small amount, but Welch presents a solution: he knows an air force captain who will to pay sixty-five dollars for a German gun. Seeger is the only one of them who possesses one — he shot a German soldier and took the weapon off the corpse. He is conflicted about selling it; ever since he acquired the gun, Seeger has been oiling it obsessively and resists all offers of sale. Then, a letter from Seeger's father arrives; they are a Jewish family, and face rampant anti-Semitism even in America, where the cost of the war is blamed on the Jews for their resistance to the Germans and 'making the fighting necessary.' Seeger's brother, Leonard, has already been killed in the fighting, and his other brother Jacob is left with PTSD. Seeger's father writes about an incident where Jacob put on his old army uniform and crouched by the window, convinced that they were bringing in new bombs 'for the Jews.' Seeger reflects on his own experiences — the anti-Semitism that he has faced himself, as well as stories he has heard in passing. He notes how each one becomes a wound that every Jewish person carries until they are all 'collections' of tragedy. He finds himself oddly glad that Leonard is dead and so cannot collect these stories. He thinks about what it would mean to be a Jewish man in possession of a German gun — what it would mean to have killed a man who murdered so many Jewish people. Seeger also finds himself thinking about Olson, Welch, and Captain Taney, who have risked their lives to save him in the field. He thinks about how Jewish people in America grow more and more isolated by the day, separated from their friends by the distrust fostered by anti-Semitic sentiments and propaganda, and he realizes that Olson and Welch would do anything for him. Seeger apprehensively asks Olson and Welch what they think 'a Jew' is, at which they exchange meaningful looks and simply say that they don't know. This means the world to Seeger, who was expecting an indifferent or hurtful remark from comrades that have not faced the discrimination that he has. They tell him not to feel obliged to sell the gun, and begin to think of what else they could do in Paris without the money. Seeger replies saying that there's nothing he could do with the gun in America, anyway.