JOSEF

Josef, Ruth, and their mother ride in the Jewish car on a train from Berlin to Hamburg. They plan to flee to Cuba, one of the few countries still accepting Jews in 1939. Josef remembers when he was forced to stand in front of his class while the teacher pointed out all of the distinguishing features of Jewish people. While his mother and sister sleep, Josef removes his paper Star of David armband and walks through the non-Jewish train cars. He buys a newspaper and has a pleasant interaction with the man who sold it, but Josef knows that the conversation would have been very different if he had been wearing his armband. 

While he is trying to get a coin out of his pocket, his armband falls on the floor. A boy wearing a Hitler Youth uniform grabs the armband and makes Josef follow him to another car. Josef remembers how he was attacked by boys in Hitler Youth uniforms outside of school. One the boys was his friend Klaus. Josef knew that it was shameful for families not to have their children join the Hitler Youth, but he also knew that it turned them into monsters.