• My dad owns a shop in Berlin. My family is Jewish and I am an only child. I am 13 years old and help my father and mother with their shop. We have a good life, with nothing really bad ever happening. I love reading. I always read the books in my father’s shop.
    It started off like any other day. My father opened up shop, and then he and my mother went to stack some books at the counter. I went out into the street to play with my friend, Flagg. There was a paddock outside of the city that we played in all day. We always have to be back by 8:00 for breakfast. We played in the paddock, as usual, before it was 8:00 and we were heading back.
    The first thing I noticed was the smashed window of the shop. There were what seemed to be one-thousand soldiers in the street. I raced past the soldiers, heading for the shop. I hoped my parents were okay. When I got in the shop, everything was burnt. The books, the counter, all of it. My parents were inside, crying. I went to comfort them. Suddenly, my mother yanked me out of the store. Before I could ask where we were going, she pointed at the front of the store. I saw that there was writing that I had not noticed before. It said: ‘wenn er die Schmierereien ubertincht’, which meant: ‘If you wash this off, you can holiday in Dachu!’ Suddenly, we were grabbed by soldiers and pulled away.
    When I awoke, I didn’t know where I was. It was a cell of some kind. There were other people there who looked like they hadn’t eaten in days. I noticed that on my grey shirt was a five-pointed star. Suddenly, a soldier walked past my cell. I tried to ask him where I was and where my mother was, but my throat was as dry as sandpaper. “Back in your cage Jew”, he sneered, pushing me to the ground. I didn’t know where my mother or father were, I didn’t even know where I was. It seemed to be a prison or a camp of some sort, but I was too weak and tired to think straight.
    About an hour later, as I was trying to fall asleep, wondering what had happened to my life, not knowing what tomorrow would bring, a lady in the next cell spoke to me. She said she overheard the guards saying something about putting us on a train and taking us somewhere. She didn’t know where, but it didn’t matter. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. My mother and I would just go on a train ride with the other people. Maybe after, we can go home and see my father again. This would be fun. I like train rides.