The Forbidden Six

September 15th, 1935

The freedom of summer was behind the six and classes had once again begun on September 4th. Ninth grade had finally come. Otto, Werner, and Liese liked to boast to their siblings that they were in their last year of secondary school and they were not.

Since it was a new year, they had new schedules again. They only had one class together: art. Classes had wildly changed over the summer. Girls now had different classes than boys. Boys had education that focused more on racial history, gym, and history whereas girls learned more about how to become successful wives and mothers. There had also been a dramatic increase in the amount of gym that was taught. Gym took up half of the school day, instead of it being only one class period.

Early that morning, Pieter started to walk to his school. On the way, he saw a group of street vendors selling pamphlets. He came up to one and looked at the pamphlet. It was yellow and said "The Nuremberg Laws" in neat red lettering on the top. It had a series of flow charts under the words.

"What's this?" he shyly asked the vendor. He hoisted his bookbag higher on his shoulder as the vendor lazily looked up from a book.

"The Nuremberg Laws. Can't you read?" the vendor grumbled. When he saw the confused look on Pieter's face he continued to explain. "They passed the law yesterday. Jews aren't citizens anymore and these pamphlets are to test whether or not a person is Aryan. Jews don't have rights anymore."

Pieter could feel the blood drain from his face. He cleared his throat and continued, acting as if nothing was wrong. "And how does the pamphlet work?"

"See this circle?" The man lazily pointed to a black circle next to a white one. "The black is a Jew and the white is an Aryan. This" —his finger went down to the circle below the two. The circle was half white and half black— "is the child. Since it was black in the circle, the child is not Aryan so he's not a citizen of Germany."

"Oh," Pieter blandly said. "Thank you for that...uhm, invigorating lesson. I'm going to be late for school. Sorry. Have a good day, sir."

"Would you like one?" the vendor yelled after him. "You can show all your friends."

"Nein, danke," Pieter said over his shoulder as he hurried away.

He passed another stand and snatched a pamphlet so he could show his friends. The stack of pamphlets fell to the ground and fluttered in the slight breeze. The vendor yelled at him as he ran away. Pieter bit back his guilt and ran towards his school. He stuffed the paper into his pocket and checked his watch. There were two minutes until class started. He could make it on time.

He ended up being five minutes late to art, which was first period. He pushed open the door and saw Leyna. He smiled at her, happy to see someone who understood what he was going through. She looked away even though she saw him. Pieter frowned and looked at his other friends instead. Liese waved.

Fifteen heads swiveled to look at him. He lowered his eyes so he wouldn't have to see them. On his way to his seat, he tripped over a stool, causing a huge noise. His hands hit the wooden floor, resulting in a few splinters. His face flushed and he sat down next to Werner.

"Why were you late?" Leyna whispered when he sat down. "You're never late. And are your hands okay?"

"Keine Bange. I'm fine. For now." He slid the Nuremberg Law pamphlet onto the table. The five others leaned in to look at it.

"Wait," Liese started after examining it, "This is to test the pureness of our blood? That's stupid," she complained. A few of their classmates turned to look at them. "What are you looking at?" she asked them. They gave her a look and turned away.