Kathy Kacer - Under the Iron Bridge

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Title: Under the iron bridge / Kathy Kacer.

Names: Kacer, Kathy, 1954- author.

Series: Holocaust remembrance book for young readers.

Description: Series statement: A Holocaust remembrance book for

young readers

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 2021013593X | Canadiana (ebook)

20210136073 | ISBN 9781772602050 (softcover) |

ISBN 9781772602067 (EPUB)

Classification: LCC PS8571.A33 U53 2021 | DDC jC813/.54dc23

Copyright 2021 by Kathy Kacer

Edited by Sarah Swartz

Cover photo: iStock.com/Alex Muslovets

Photo on page 216: World History Archive / Alamy Stock Photo

Photo on page 218: Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo / Alamy Stock Photo

Printed and bound in Canada

Second Story Press gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program.

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund.

Published by

Second Story Press

20 Maud Street, Suite 401

Toronto, ON M5V 2M5

www.secondstorypress.ca

For my best buddy, Rosemy friend for life

Our song is freedom, love and life,

Were the Pirates of the Edelweiss.

A song from the Edelweiss Pirates. The German Teens Who

Sang and Danced Their Nazi Resistance by Abby Sher, Jewish

Telegraphic Agency, Jewniverse , 2016.

Prologue

Wednesday, November 9, 1938

The flame was visible in the cold night sky, even before Paul and the other members of the Hitler Youth had rounded the corner and approached the building. Up ahead was the New Synagogue of Dsseldorf, which most of the Jewish families of the city attended. Tonight, it was unrecognizable. Hot embers leapt and danced in the air. Ribbons of fire illuminated the sky. And the smell! Thick and noxious, it filled Pauls lungs, choking him. He coughed and doubled over as if hed been punched in the stomach.

When he lifted his head, he could see Nazi soldiers flinging torches at the building, tossing them inside the door and high onto the roof to stoke the fire. German police stood by and did nothing to stop them.

Franz, the leader of the Hitler Youth group, came to stand next to him and the other boys. This is how we treat the Jews! he shouted above the noise of blistering wood and hissing flames. Destroy their synagogues and burn them to the ground.

Pauls heart beat wildly as his eyes frantically roamed the crowd. Where were the Edelweiss Pirates? Where were his fellow freedom-fighters, rebels who were trying to battle against this kind of senseless action?

Find some rocks! Franz ordered. The bigger the better. Throw them at the windows and listen to the shattering glass.

To demonstrate, Franz searched the ground and found a rock that was sharp and jagged. Then, he turned toward the building and threw it into a window. Glass shards, fueled by the fire, exploded into the air and rained down on the sidewalk, already littered with glass, metal, and wood.

This was the cue needed to unleash the other boys in the Hitler Youth group. With a whoop that echoed above the sound of the fire, they scattered, finding their own rocks and throwing them at the synagogue building.

Paul was too stunned to move. His feet seemed glued to the ground. He wanted to run away as fast and as far as he could. This was not what he thought would happen. It was never what he had planned, not since he had been forced to join the Hitler Youth months earlier. Pauls best friend, Harold, standing next to him, seemed equally paralyzed.

I dont want to do this, Harold whispered.

Im not going to listen to them, Paul replied, as much to himself as to Harold. I dont care what happens.

Franz was by their side in a second. Whats wrong with the two of you? he demanded. Didnt you hear my order? Find a rock and throw it!

Dazed, Harold sank down to his knees in search of something to throw. He finally found a small rock, hardly more than a stone. Under Franzs hard stare, Harold tossed it toward the building. It didnt go far enough, rolling several feet from the synagogue door.

Franz grabbed Harold by the collar and pulled him up close to his face. But before he could shout more orders, there was another commotion up ahead. A group of people were being marched in front of the burning synagogue, heads down, feet stumbling across the debris. There must have been more than one hundred of them.

Paul knew immediately that they were Jews. They wore the recognizable yellow star on their jackets and sweaters. Several of the men wore skullcaps on their heads. They swayed back and forth as they walked, eyes closed as if in prayer. Women held on to their husbands and children. Elderly couples hugged each other.

Franz, momentarily distracted, released Harold and straightened his jacket. You are about to witness another great moment. He called out to the boys to come closer. They crowded around him, still clutching their rocks.

Paul couldnt hear a thing. Sounds were muffled in his ears. Franz was shouting something more, but Paul didnt know what. All he could do was stand, mouth open, staring at the group of Jewish people slowly moving forward in front of him. And he couldnt take his eyes off one person in particular.

It was Analia.

Chapter 1

Tuesday, August 30, 1938

Three Months Earlier

I dont understand why you havent signed up for the Hitler Youth.

Fifteen-year-old Paul Ritter was walking home from school with his good friend, Harold Becker. And as often happened these days, Harold was yammering away at Paul on his favorite subject. Its an honor to serve Adolf Hitler, Harold insisted, naming the leader of the ruling Nazi government and jabbing Paul lightly in the arm. The best way to show our devotion to him is to join up.

Paul exhaled a long breath and reached up to run his hand through his blond mop of hair, which threatened to fall into his eyes. His forehead was lined with perspiration in the hot August sun. But it was Harolds constant blabbering that was making him really sweat. The Hitler Youth was the official organization of the Nazi party that brought boys between the ages of fourteen and eighteen together and trained them to eventually become part of the military that served Adolf Hitler. Boys of Pauls age were being pressured to join whether they wanted to or not. And Paul did not!

I dont know why youre refusing to go, Harold persisted. Hitler is the greatest leader for Germany.

It was true that Germany under Adolf Hitler was poised to become a superpower. This was 1938, and Hitler had already taken over Austria, claiming it as part of the greater Germany. He had declared that other countries would soon follow. No one doubted him. And here in the city of Dsseldorf, the evidence of Hitlers rule was everywhere. Flags with swastikas, the symbol of the Nazi party, flew from every building. Pictures of Hitler could be seen inside every department store, office building, and school, including in Pauls classroom. The airwaves blasted speeches from Hitler, declaring his strength and the superiority of Germany. At rallies and parades around the city, citizens cheered and sang out Heil Hitler , hail to Hitler, and Sieg Heil , hail to victory. Crowds worked themselves into a frenzy faster than a storm brewing on the summer horizon. Paul had seen it all and still he had his doubts.