Georg woke up in the morning ready to leave for school. He had prepared his clothes from the night before and was excited to open the new present that his Father had given him before. He opened the box. Inside was a pin. He ran his fingers across the bizarre shape, that his family had grown so fond of. After getting dressed and washing up, he went into the kitchen for breakfast. His father was sitting next to the radio, listening to the news and eating two slices of toast covered in marmalade. Georg expected to see his older brother Alfred there with him but he then remembered that Alfred had left on Friday, after his vacation from the Army. Georg ate his breakfast and he and his younger sister Frida left for school. While walking the familiar streets of Berlin, he noticed a group of kids around his age with hitler youth uniforms teasing a jewish boy that he remembered from his class a few years ago. Frida, noticing that he was staring at something, turned to see the boys. After less than a second she turned right back around as if it were nothing out of the norman, which, after another second, Georg decided as well and they kept walking.

Georg’s parents were planning on having him join the Hitler youth next year too, which they were very excited for and Georg was very nervous for. Alfred had graduated from the program last year and gone straight to the army. He would often talk about all the exercise there was and how harsh the directors were. At the schools entrance Georg did the Heil Hitler sign, a new formality at all the public schools. He then entered his first class, Biology.

“You can identify a Jew just by how they look,” said Mr. Schmidt. Today they were learning about race science. This was Georg’s Father’s favorite class. “You are so lucky,” Georg recalled him saying. “ When I was in school we didn’t have race science and I missed out on learning all of this!”  “ We Germans,” Mr. Schmidt continued, “are tall, blonde, and have detached earlobes. See?” He pushed his left ear forward with one hand and pointed to it with the other. “ But Jews, they are short, have dark hair, and big, crooked noses. Also their earlobes look like they are sewn to the side of their head!” A girl named Luisa in the row behind him grunted disapprovingly in the row behind him. Georg on the other hand, believed what he said without the slightest doubt. Afterall, his family fit these German traits perfectly. He did however, begin question why Louisa doubted it.

In math class they had an exam i which, as usual, Georg finished early. Convinced that he had gotten all of the answers correct, he rested his head on his hand and looked outside the window. Three boys wearing an Adolf Hitler-School’s uniform were walking outside. Georg’s parents had really wanted Alfred to go to that school, but he was not one of the few selected from the Hitler Youth. Georg’s mom,Helga, had wanted him to go so badly that she would bleach his hair with lemon juice every week to try to increase his chances.

After school Georg went to pick up Frida from her class. While walking home, Frida told him about her day. “ Karl started crying because his neighbor David and his family moved away, but then Otto told him that it was for the better because David was jewish and Otto didn’t like having him in the neighborhood, but then Karl started yelling so Mr.Muller hit him 20 times with the ruler really hard!” “Wow Frida,” said Georg. “That’s quite the story, isn’t it?” “Ι know,” she replied. “Everyone hopes he leaves the school.” They turned from Alexanderplatz into their yard and entered the house. They were greeted by their mother’s voice. “ Hallo children.” “Hallo Mutti,” replied Georg as he closed the door to his room. While doing his assignment he could hear Frida telling their mother about Karl.

“ Georg!” his mother called. “ Get ready! We are leaving in 10 minutes.” Georg had completely forgotten! It’s a family tradition that on Friday, they go to the cinema to watch a film. The tradition was created to celebrate Jews being banned from the cinema. Today they were watching, “ Cong Express.” An adventure film that he had been waiting to watch for a very long time. “It was more of a romance than an adventure,” he complained afterwords. “Well I thought it was wonderful!” said Frida. Georg rolled his eyes.

While lying in bed, Georg thought about the movie, and about how in all romances he’s ever seen the girl always picks the Nazi to be with over the foreigner. ‘Are films like this in all countries?” he wondered. He didn’t need an answer though, and soon he fell asleep.