| Hans Peter Richter tells us a story about two boys. They are the same age and live in the same block of flats, so they know each other well. Friedrich is Jewish. At the beginning of this story, Friedrich's father has a good job and his family is comfortably off. Friedrich's friend, who narrates the story, is poor. His father is unemployed.
When Hitler comes to power in 1933 Germany is still in desperate financial difficulties following the First World War. There is massive unemployment and extreme hardship and poverty. Hitler tells the people that the Jews are responsible for a lot of Germany's problems and he begins to pass a series of laws which restricts the rights of Jews. This book traces the fortunes of the two families. The unemployed German who joins the Nazi party shares in Hitler's success. He finds work and can afford a holiday. Slowly, decree by decree, the Jewish family have everything taken away from them. Friedrich's father is forced to retire from his job in the civil service. Friedrich has to leave the German school and attend a special Jewish school. The movements of Jews are restricted by curfews, they must carry Jewish identity cards, they may not go to the cinema, they must wear yellow stars on their clothes. Friedrich's friend is a member of the Jungvolk (the Hitler Youth movement) and even finds himself swept along in the mob violence. But he still considers himself to be Friedrich's friend. Friedrich's mother is attacked by a mob in her own home and dies from her injuries. Friedrich's father is arrested and taken away. And that leaves the seventeen year old Friedrich alone. This book showed not only the intensity of the Nazi Germany genocide, but the treatment of one neighbor to another after finding out that they were Jews. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book? - depressed Time/era of story - 1930's-1950's Is this an adult or child's book? - Age 11-14 War/Revolt/Disaster on civilians Yes Conflict: Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - a teen Ethnicity/Nationality Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - a teen Profession/status: How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 7 () Europe Yes European country: - Germany City? Yes City: - dangerous Writing Style Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript |
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