Life_under_Siege_The_Jews_of_Magdeburg_under_Nazi_Rule.pdf

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In the instances where Jewish youth defended themselves physically, all felt
great pride over their actions. They knew that this course of action was dangerous;
however, it made them feel less humiliated and less of a victim. The young Inge-
Ruth Herrmann recalled numerous altercations with members of the HJ, but one
incident stood out:
They needled you, you know; just little things. I remember I came from school
one day. I was walking with another couple of Jewish children and a couple of
boys in the Hitler Youth pushed us off the footpath. I turned around and I
shoved them back again. When I came home I told my mother. She was
waiting for days for the Gestapo. I mean, we got told to keep away from them
as much as we could. 115
Gerry Levy also had similar experiences. He recalled a bicycle trip when he and a
Jewish friend were cornered by a group of HJ. A fight ensued and Gerry’s Jewish
friend left him. He recalled that ‘it was quite a good fight’ 116 and that they threw
stones at him and that he still actually possesses a scar from the incident. He
remarked:
I am very proud that I didn’t run away. I didn’t win, but they left me alone. I
think they rather respected me for the fact that I didn’t run away. 117
The epitome of the vulnerability of Jewish children and youth is evidenced in this
final recollection of the same young girl who experienced the rejection by her
adopted non-Jewish aunt and uncle:
Around the corner from my street, Königgrätzer Straße, there lived a boy and
whenever I went past there, he spat at me and called me “Jude! Itzig!” [“Jew!
Yid!”] One day I felt so annoyed, he was in full Hitler Youth uniform, and I
just lunged at him. I started scratching and he pushed me and we fell down;
and a woman opened a window and shouted: “Aren’t you ashamed to hit a
girl!” And he never spat at me again. 118
115
Poppert, op. cit., 9 January 1998.
116
Levy, op. cit., 10 July 1997.
117
Ibid.
118
H. B., op. cit., 15 August 1997.