Blog 2

In the last two chapters Emil has been picked on horrible because he’s Jewish. Karl was standing next to him and trying to stop the kids from bullying him but it simply didn’t work. The reason it didn’t work was they were outnumbered by at least five. The kids were spitting in Emil’s face calling him names and hitting him. I’m wondering how the teacher just let this go on? Later as I read on it told me that she was simply just too weak to stand up for them. When the teacher asked what was going on and why they were picking on Emil one kid said “We’re beating up Emil, he’s just a filthy Jew.” They also said “Everyone beats up Jews nowadays. Emil’s a Jew, he’s not our equal.” I can infer that these kids didn’t just start doing this they must’ve learned it or saw it from their parents. I can also Infer that these kids parent hate Jews because kids at the age they are don’t just randomly hate people because of their religion they have to be informed about it. My question to the parents is why do they think they are so much better than Jews? What is wrong with being Jewish? And why teach kids to hate other kids? I’m so glad that I was not in Emil’s shoes because I can’t even start to imagine how he must feel.

The book I’m reading is Emil and Karl by Yankev Glatshteyn. Karl is the protagonist in the story. This takes place in Vienna Austria. Karl lives by himself now that his mom has got taken away from him. Right as he watches his mom get taken away, one of the three men say “Just wait, you little bastard, until we come for you.” This made Karl panic because he knew that it was just a matter of time before he gets taken away. After some thinking Karl realizes that he is going to go to Emil’s house. The only thing that he was a little hesitant about was Emil’s mom a few days earlier said “you mustn’t, Karl, do you understand, you’re not allowed to play with Emil. It will only make trouble for us. You’re a sensible boy, Karl, please, don’t come here any more, try to understand.” I can see how this could have been for Karl. I would be pretty hesitant to go to Emil’s house if his mom told me, but under the circumstances he is facing I would do exactly what he did and go to Emil’s house because that is the only safe place for him.