Life_under_Siege_The_Jews_of_Magdeburg_under_Nazi_Rule.pdf

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from Worms to Trier over the mountains; from Trier along the Mosel
[River Moselle] to Koblenz: from Koblenz to Wiesbaden and to Frankfurt and
then back to Magdeburg. That was a few weeks in the summer in 1937, and
again without any problem. 120
Hans Jensen’s positive experiences remain the general exception. When Hans
Jensen was asked whether or not he and this friend ever discussed the political
situation and state antisemitism, he replied:
He never discussed anything like that. It is a version of the psyche of that time.
Some of them were so imbued with hate; they showed it; and others like him
did not. 121
Thus, Jewish children and youth had similar experiences to their parents and
grandparents in their contact with non-Jews in public. However, there were
differences as well. They, too, generally experienced a period of transition, even
though it was somewhat shorter, owing to the early effects of propaganda at
school and in the youth movements. Most relationships already established ended
abruptly or faded out, again without any acrimony, by 1935. Some teenagers
proved to be the exceptions and managed to maintain friendships with non-Jews,
some until 1938. However, the experiences of the majority of children and
teenagers do diverge from the experiences of adults when assessing their contacts
with non-Jewish children. Owing to their identification as Jews at school, all
Jewish youth became potential targets of verbal and physical abuse anywhere at
any time. Much of the time the assailants were unknown to them and they became
simply the face of the enemy. This did not take place to the same extent in the
adult world. Adults were also far more experienced and equipped to assess and
deal with such situations, should they arise. They also had a broad experience of
German society prior to Hitler. For the majority of Jewish children and youth this
120 Jensen, op. cit., 14 June 1999.
121 Jensen, op. cit., 11 July 1999.