54 pages • 1 hour read
Hans Peter RichterA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
The narrator and his parents wake up to someone knocking on their door. It’s the night of the Pogrom, and Herr Schneider is at the door. He asks to borrow a lamp and apologizes for disturbing them. Frau Schneider isn’t doing well. A doctor called Dr. Levy is with Herr Schneider and needs to boil a dirty syringe and needle before giving an injection to Frau Schneider. Upstairs, the narrator’s mother wants to bring Frau Schneider to their apartment, since the Schneiders’ apartment has been severely damaged. Dr. Levy says it is too late for that. He gives her the injection, but she dies shortly thereafter. Dr. Levy begins to chant over her. Friedrich and his father join in. After they are done, Herr Schneider tears his shirt and weeps. Friedrich follows suit. Dr. Levy places a candle next to Frau Schneider’s body.
It is 1939. Herr Schneider had to pay to have his door fixed. He also had to pay Herr Resch for his damaged rose bushes. The narrator takes a letter up to Herr Schneider. He acts very fearful; he asks about Friedrich. Friedrich’s father shows him where Friedrich is working at the table on a lamp.
Featured Collections