Life_under_Siege_The_Jews_of_Magdeburg_under_Nazi_Rule.pdf

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Perhaps even more psychologically brutal than this direct approach of severing
relationships were occurrences where non-Jews simply ignored former Jewish
friends if they encountered them, particularly in public. One such instance was
that of a young Jewish girl and her ‘adopted’ non-Jewish aunt and uncle. Still
sensitive to the rejection she suffered at the time, she recalled:
When we lived in Neustadt, across the street there lived a couple, who had no
children. I was extremely fond of them, and they of me. I visited them each
evening, and I called them aunt and uncle. I had the Chanukah [Jewish festival
of lights] lights, and they had the Christmas tree, and I could go over. I
also recall that they enjoyed our ‘Jewish food,’ and I theirs. What I also
remember is that I liked them very, very much.
Then my family moved and this couple would still come to us for my birthday
and then Hitler came. And then I saw them all of a sudden on the street and I
ran towards them, and they turned around and went the other way, and I cried.
I cried – that I remember, and they were supposed to have loved me very
much! 113
This non-violent, but no less damaging, rejection was in marked contra-
distinction to the general abuse from non-Jewish youth which Jewish children and
youth endured in public. This abuse ranged from verbal altercations to physical
attacks and only increased as the years progressed and definitely escalated after
September 1935. In a number of situations it also involved Jewish youth reaching
saturation point, with regard to their constantly being taunted, and lashing out
physically. This was a dangerous action to take and it indicated the near breaking-
point level of frustration and anger which Jewish youth felt. The consensus of
opinion of all interviewees was that members of the Hitler Jugend (HJ) were
equally as prevalent in public as members of the Bund deutscher Mädel (BdM).
However, the consensus was that the members of the HJ were far more brutal in
their public behaviour and more aggressive toward Jews. 114
113 H. B., op. cit., 15 August 1997.
114 Kent, op. cit., 12 January 1998.