GENOCIDE. WHAT’S THAT?
Bea __________________ Bea grew up in Munich in Germany surrounded by lots of trees, parks and sandpits. When she was six years old she went to her local primary school. Her dad walked with her on the thirty minute journey every day. School began at 8am for the youngest children and finished at 1pm when the Bea’s family would meet at home for their main mean of the day. School in 1931 was a pleasant experience for Bea. She had a lovely form mistress who taught her to write on a slate with a chalk pen. Things changed though.
Fraulein Felder, who taught Bea in her second year at school, was a Nazi. Once, when Bea asked for a new pencil to replace her worn down one, the teacher told her ‘Don’t you Jew children have enough money to buy your own?’. Incredulous, Bea didn’t know to take it personally – she knew that she was Jewish but just wondered why the teacher wanted to know how much money she had? With thirty other kids in her class Bea simply thought that Fraulein Felder was horrible to all the children. Nevertheless, Bea went home and reported the curious remark to her mum…who got very angry. That was Bea’s introduction to antisemitism – a year before Hitler came to power in Germany. It was on 10 March 1933 that Bea realised the appalling nature of antisemitism under Hitler. Bea was at home, in bed, off school with a cold. She remembers her mum being out shopping and that there was nobody in the family flat except for herself. Normally, when Bea’s father came home for lunch, at around a quarter past one, everyone would be sitting at the table waiting for him in the living / dining room at the end of the corridor. He would open the door, turning the key in the lock very firmly and would whistle the family whistle to announce his arrival. That was the signal for Bea and her brother to rush down the corridor to see who would get to their dad first – and much to Bea’s frustration she was always second in the race because her brother was four years older and had longer legs. But Bea was lying in bed on that particular March 10th 1933. When the door was unlocked she thought that it might be her mother returning from her shopping. Bea waited for her to appear…but when she didn’t Bea got out of her bed and went out into the corridor which took her to opposite the bathroom. There she saw her father’s clothes drenched in blood. Bea tiptoed the length of the corridor to her parents’ bedroom which was opposite the main door and… knocked at her at the bedroom door. There was no answer. Gingerly, Bea opened the and saw her father pull up his bed clothes so that Bea couldn’t see his face. Only his eyes were visible. ‘Wait until your mother comes home’ Bea remembers her dad mumbling. She thought it all very strange – her dad never referred to Bea’s as ‘mother’. He always said ‘mum’. So, Bea crept out again and went back to bed. Bea remembers lying on my back feeling not very good. Feeling kind of empty, feeling really scared. Soon, her mum came home and Bea heard a lot of talking. She realised that her parents didn’t want her to know what had happened. That upset Bea as she had seen what she had seen and needed to know. The Siegel family had a house in the country – a little wooden house made of logs – which Bea remembered as being gorgeous. There were brown logs, white window frames, green shutters and a red roof. The house stood on the edge of a forest which was the foot of a mountain. Even decades afterwards Bea is able to describe the minute details of the house that gave her and her family so much joy. However, back in March 1933 the family travelled to their house in the country with a doctor and without the same joy. While her father tried to say that there was nothing wrong with him it was clear to Bea that that was far from the truth.
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