The story takes places in 1945 post-war Germany where food was in short supply.
Shortly after World War II in Germany, an older woman wakes up in the dark of the night and catches her husband who is eating an extra slice of their rationed bread.
In the story, the life is being threatened by the knife which the husband is using to illegitimately cut himself a slice of rationed bread.
After that, they go back to bed and share a place of commonality and safety, even though the incident needs to be "covered".
It reveals the husband's lie, at the same time it turns the situation for the better, when the wife sits down at the table under the lamp.
The short story started being thematized in German schools in the 1950s because it realistically shows the social truth of the post-war era and also could be seen as a symbolization of timeless values.
[2] In 2008, the short story was adapted for a film titled The Bread by Yasin Demirel, a German-Turkish director.
[3] It is based on the original script by Wolfgang Borchert, however the entire film was shot in English.