You’re lucky to even be allowed in this class. From now on you will both sit at the back of the room. The world would be better off without your type, and the rest of us don’t want to be contaminated!’
Laughter echoed off the old Hauptschule walls, and Ariel looked around. Even his friends were laughing at him. He made his way to the back of the class with Rebekkah and sat down. Numb. What had they done to deserve this?
Herr Schweizer, a senior vice president for his region in the banned Austrian Nazi Party, addressed his new charges.
‘There are going to be some changes around here, for the good of Austria and the greater Deutschland . We will deal this morning with the Treaty of Versailles. Can anyone tell me what that was and why Germany should never have been a party to it?’
Rebekkah clung to her brother’s hand as she dragged her satchel up the Donaukanal-Judengasse steps, her blonde curls bedraggled; the cracks between the steps fuzzy through her tears.
It wasn’t until they’d almost reached the top that Ariel noticed the crowd. Suddenly a stranger grabbed him by the ear. His assailant was a large, rotund man in breeches. The man wore a felt hat with a large feather. His coat looked several sizes too small and he was wearing a swastika armband on his sleeve.
‘What are you doing here?’ the man demanded, his face florid.
‘Let go of me! We live here!’ Ariel replied, trying to shield his little sister.
‘So! Jude Kinder! Gutter-dwelling Jude Kinder !’ the stranger bellowed, addressing his remarks to the jeering crowd. Though it was the second time Ariel had heard the words that day, the sting was no less vicious. He caught sight of Herr Lieberman and his wife, who owned the carpet store a few doors down from his mother’s boutique. They were scrubbing the steps with toothbrushes. Herr Lieberman looked sad yet somehow dignified as he shook his head at Ariel and Rebekkah, indicating they shouldn’t resist.
The stranger thrust a paint can and brush into Ariel’s hand.
‘Schreiben Sie hier Jude verrecke!’ He grabbed Ariel by the neck and forced him roughly to the ground. The crowd began to chant menacingly. In a futile gesture, Rebekkah flailed at the stranger who held her by the hair.
‘Sieg Heil! Jude verrecke! Sieg Heil! Jude verrecke!’
Through uncomprehending tears, Ariel began to paint the words in large black letters on the steps. Jude verrecke! Death to the Jews!
When Ariel finished, the crowd reacted with a roar and the stranger kicked him behind his knees. Ariel’s legs buckled and he fell backwards down the steps. The man kicked the paint can after him and thick black paint splashed over Ariel’s face and school uniform. The crowd cheered wildly.
Ariel wiped his nose and mouth and looked up to find three older boys in brown shirts crowding over him. He yelped in pain as one of them kicked him in the ribs.
‘I wouldn’t walk to school tomorrow, Jew boy, and that goes for your bitch of a sister too. We’ll be waiting.’
Ariel missed his father more than ever, and once again he fought back the tears. He put his arm around Rebekkah to shelter her and together they made their escape.
Himmler strode past the high-backed red-and-gold armchairs and tables interspersed at regular intervals down the Hall of Marble, a long impressive room at the front of the new Reich Chancellery. His boots rang on the marble floor, echoing off walls decorated with priceless tapestries. The magnificent red marble had been specially quarried from Untersberg. Designed by Hitler’s architect, Albert Speer, the Chancellery took up several city blocks on Wilhelmstrasse and Vosstrasse .
Two SS guards stood beneath the marble archway that led to the double doors of Hitler’s vast office.
‘ Reichsführer Himmler, mein Führer .’ Hitler’s adjutant Oberst Friedrich Hossbach clicked his heels.
Anyone admitted to Hitler’s office in the Reich Chancellery could not fail to be impressed.
Laughter echoed off the old Hauptschule walls, and Ariel looked around. Even his friends were laughing at him. He made his way to the back of the class with Rebekkah and sat down. Numb. What had they done to deserve this?
Herr Schweizer, a senior vice president for his region in the banned Austrian Nazi Party, addressed his new charges.
‘There are going to be some changes around here, for the good of Austria and the greater Deutschland . We will deal this morning with the Treaty of Versailles. Can anyone tell me what that was and why Germany should never have been a party to it?’
Rebekkah clung to her brother’s hand as she dragged her satchel up the Donaukanal-Judengasse steps, her blonde curls bedraggled; the cracks between the steps fuzzy through her tears.
It wasn’t until they’d almost reached the top that Ariel noticed the crowd. Suddenly a stranger grabbed him by the ear. His assailant was a large, rotund man in breeches. The man wore a felt hat with a large feather. His coat looked several sizes too small and he was wearing a swastika armband on his sleeve.
‘What are you doing here?’ the man demanded, his face florid.
‘Let go of me! We live here!’ Ariel replied, trying to shield his little sister.
‘So! Jude Kinder! Gutter-dwelling Jude Kinder !’ the stranger bellowed, addressing his remarks to the jeering crowd. Though it was the second time Ariel had heard the words that day, the sting was no less vicious. He caught sight of Herr Lieberman and his wife, who owned the carpet store a few doors down from his mother’s boutique. They were scrubbing the steps with toothbrushes. Herr Lieberman looked sad yet somehow dignified as he shook his head at Ariel and Rebekkah, indicating they shouldn’t resist.
The stranger thrust a paint can and brush into Ariel’s hand.
‘Schreiben Sie hier Jude verrecke!’ He grabbed Ariel by the neck and forced him roughly to the ground. The crowd began to chant menacingly. In a futile gesture, Rebekkah flailed at the stranger who held her by the hair.
‘Sieg Heil! Jude verrecke! Sieg Heil! Jude verrecke!’
Through uncomprehending tears, Ariel began to paint the words in large black letters on the steps. Jude verrecke! Death to the Jews!
When Ariel finished, the crowd reacted with a roar and the stranger kicked him behind his knees. Ariel’s legs buckled and he fell backwards down the steps. The man kicked the paint can after him and thick black paint splashed over Ariel’s face and school uniform. The crowd cheered wildly.
Ariel wiped his nose and mouth and looked up to find three older boys in brown shirts crowding over him. He yelped in pain as one of them kicked him in the ribs.
‘I wouldn’t walk to school tomorrow, Jew boy, and that goes for your bitch of a sister too. We’ll be waiting.’
Ariel missed his father more than ever, and once again he fought back the tears. He put his arm around Rebekkah to shelter her and together they made their escape.
Himmler strode past the high-backed red-and-gold armchairs and tables interspersed at regular intervals down the Hall of Marble, a long impressive room at the front of the new Reich Chancellery. His boots rang on the marble floor, echoing off walls decorated with priceless tapestries. The magnificent red marble had been specially quarried from Untersberg. Designed by Hitler’s architect, Albert Speer, the Chancellery took up several city blocks on Wilhelmstrasse and Vosstrasse .
Two SS guards stood beneath the marble archway that led to the double doors of Hitler’s vast office.
‘ Reichsführer Himmler, mein Führer .’ Hitler’s adjutant Oberst Friedrich Hossbach clicked his heels.
Anyone admitted to Hitler’s office in the Reich Chancellery could not fail to be impressed.
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