The Abbeville Boys

Chapter 2: The Change

      The boys finished out the remainder of the school year and had a glorious summer. Kurt got to know Gretchen and they became fast friends. Gretchen was a tall, beautiful blonde with blue eyes and gorgeous face. Kurt loved her smile. Joseph got to know Hilda. She had brown hair, blue eyes, and a cute face. She was Aryan, and slightly shorter than Gretchen. They all became friends but couldn’t see each other much outside of school because they lived so far apart. The girls didn’t enjoy doing the things the boys did anyway. During the summer the boys wrote letters to the girls but had no other contact face to face with them. Kurt thought about Gretchen all the time when he and Joseph weren’t out riding and hunting.

      The year is now 1933 and Adolf Hitler has come to power. The president has appointed him the Chancellor of Germany. He is still not the supreme leader, however. President Paul Von Hindenburg was in charge. He was a parliamentary politician. He was old and senile though and had little participation in the government. The situation gave Hitler the freedom to implement the Nazi philosophy into German society, including the schools.

      This was when hell began for the Jewish people. The Jews were not cared for much in Germany before. They ran their businesses and had many non-Jewish customers. It was a tense but satisfying existence. Hitler ramped it up. Before he was Chancellor, he had many speeches disparaging the Jews. After he took office, it became government policy.

      When Kurt walked into the classroom at the beginning of the school year he noticed an immediate change. There were several red flags with a white circle and black swastika in the middle. They were displayed prominently on the wall. Half the books on the bookshelves were missing, and there were instructions on the blackboard for the order of the day. Other kids were walking into the class slowly and staring at the changes. Gretchen walked in and went over to Kurt. They both had big smiles. Kurt said, “How have you been. I’ve missed you all summer.”

      Gretchen shyly smiled, “I’ve missed you. Did you have fun?”

      “I loved getting your letters. Yes, we did our usual riding and hunting. What did you do?”

      “We went on vacation to Paris. It was beautiful. There were sidewalk restaurants and the most amazing dress and shoe shops. We went up in the Eifel Tower. It was fun and interesting.

      Joseph walked in and stared at the transformed classroom. He went over to Kurt and Gretchen, “What’s happening?”

      Kurt said, “I don’t know. It looks like we’re going to have a different kind of school year.”

      The rest of the kids came filing in. Hilda walked in as the teacher entered, and she didn’t have time to come over and talk with the others. The teacher had a sullen look on her face. She was an attractive trim woman in her mid-thirties. She said, “Everyone take your seats. I need to tell you some new things we’ll be doing this year. Before I start, Joseph Benowitz and David Epstein need to go see the headmaster.”

      Both boys looked at each other. Joseph then looked at Kurt. He nodded at Joseph like it would be alright. The boys slowly got up and left the classroom.

      They entered the headmaster’s outer officer and were ushered into the main office where a craggy old man in a beat up black suit, a thin blue tie and a phlegmy cough was sitting. He had a crestfallen face and frazzled white hair. He told them to sit down in the two chairs in front of the desk. He coughed a few times into a handkerchief, “I want you to know you’ll be attending a new school this year. It’s not far from here. You’ll have the same studies. It’s the judgement of the new people running the schools.”

      Joseph said, “Why are they sending us there?”

      “Because it’s been decreed all Jewish children must attend certain schools and cannot mix with Aryan children. Now, we’ve called your parents and they’re coming to pick you up and take you to the new school. You can wait outside in the hall until they come. That’s all.”

      The boys got up and went into the hall. Now they’re scared. What was going on. This was the first of many new things the Jewish children would have to get used to.  

      During breaks Kurt, Gretchen, and Hilda talked about what was going on. They had no answers as no one would talk about it. Kurt knew Joseph would be over in the evening and he could tell him what happened.

      That evening after dinner Kurt went outside to wait for Joseph but he never showed up. As he was waiting Kurt heard a noise up in the sky. He looked up and saw a biplane flying over the estate. He had seen a few pictures of planes but never one in person. Suddenly the plane dove down towards the forest and then pulled up as he rolled over. He went back up and continued to fly on. Kurt watched the plane and was mesmerized. How did he do that. The more he watched the plane he wondered what the pilot was seeing from up there. It was hard for him to imagine being that high above the earth and flying like a bird. By the time the plane was out of sight Kurt decided he wanted to fly. He couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like flying over the world.  

      Kurt was concerned Joseph didn’t show up. The next evening, he went outside again to wait. When he was about to give up hope he noticed a horse coming over the hill into the meadow at a gallop. It was Joseph. He approached and got off his horse. The two boys smiled. Kurt said, “I was worried. What’s going on?”

      Joseph got a serious look on his face, “They’ve separated the Jewish kids from everyone else. They put us in another school just for Jews. It’s kind of the same but the teachers, who aren’t Jews, keep telling us we don’t belong here. We were standing around some teachers talking and overheard them say, ‘It’s only going to get worse for them.’ I don’t know what’s going on. This is happening so fast.”

      Kurt tried to be supportive, “Don’t worry. What can they do. I’m sure this will all be done after a short time. Hilda was asking about you. I told her I’d talk to you and let her know what was going on. She said she missed you.”

      That brought a smile to Joseph’s face, “Tell her I miss her too. Everything is fine. I want to see her soon. Maybe I can walk from my school to the old school in the afternoon and meet up with her.”

      Kurt said, “I’ll tell her tomorrow and we can set it up. You want to go for a quick ride before you need to head back?”

      After the last few days Joseph was ready to get back to some normalcy. The boys saddled up and rode around the meadow close to the house before Joseph had to head back.