Sincerely, Marketa - A Story of the Holocaust

Chapter Five: Vienna, Austria - Winter, 1938

Marketa Hoffmann's gaze was cast down upon the snow-coated ground in front of her as she walked, the fresh, newly-fallen snow crunching beneath the weight of her feet. Up ahead she could hear the scraping of ice-skate blades against the skating rink and the laughter of the many children who were playing there. Many were her friends and former classmates, children her own age. And there, along with them, it seemed to have followed her: the sign. That horrible sign. It seemed that everywhere she looked there was one:

Juden sind hier unerwünscht.

Jews are not wanted here. In clear, bold letters. Those letters and words haunted her, everywhere she went. Jews not wanted here, and here, or there, or anywhere. Not anymore.

She had the great urge to swing her leg back and kick the sign over but knew deep down that this would only make things worse. But it made her feel so isolated, as isolated as she felt wearing the equally horrible yellow star badge bearing the word Jude on her jacket for all to see. Although she knew all the Jews must wear one, she still felt like she was the only person who had to.

A welcome interruption came then in the form of her best friend, Elsa, skating over to where Marketa stood on the sidelines, away from the others.

"Hallo, Marketa."

"Hallo, Elsa. Wie ghets?"

"Gut, und dir?"

Marketa shrugged, and her friend knew that was reply enough. "Would you like to come over for some hot chocolate?" Elsa asked in welcome distraction. "I can tell you all about school. We are learning Latin, you'd love it!"

Ever since Jewish children had been expelled from schools all over the country, Marketa, her sister Liesel, and many others were forced to stay home. This being the case, Marketa loved listening to Elsa recount the days at school which she would have happily attended otherwise. She had always been a good, dedicated student and loved learning, reading everything she could, always wanting to improve and learn more. People always said how bright she was, but now, unable to go to school, she felt that if she did indeed have such talents, they were being wasted.

When it first happened, she had asked Mutti that if she were to send in a report with her grades to the government, and they saw proof of how good and dedicated a student she was, maybe they would let her stay. Mutti said, while a good idea, it unfortunately wouldn't change anything, something Marketa had always known deep down, but didn't want to accept.

"Ja, sounds nice," she agreed.

The no-school restriction had come as a great shock to her. Mutti and Vati had called her and Liesel into the living room to tell them the news.

"What's wrong?" asked Liesel, noticing their parents' distressed look right away.

Oh no, thought Marketa. Now what?

Mutti and Vati exchanged a glance. Mutti then sighed before beginning, her voice serious. "You are not allowed to go to school anymore." Although serious, she spoke in a voice just above a whisper.

The sisters had stared back at their parents with wide eyes. "No school!" cried Marketa. "B-but why?"

"It's the latest law," explained Vati.

"For everyone?" asked Liesel.

"No, just the Jews," Marketa corrected, adding the words Vati had left out. She couldn't believe her ears. No school? How could they do that to Jewish children?