It is February in Berlin. Anna walks home from school with her friend Elsbeth. They pass a poster of Hitler and discuss the fact that Anna is Jewish, even though their family isn’t religious. They stop at a paper shop to buy crayons. Fraulein Lambeck, an effusive woman who knows Anna’s family, asks how Anna’s father is; Anna explains that he is sick. Fraulein Lambeck bemoans the terrible times. Elsbeth envies the fact that Anna has a famous father.

Anna arrives home. Fraulein Heimpel, the family’s maid, whom the children call “Heimpi,” helps her to undress. Max, her brother, and his friend, Gunther, have a Nazi badge that they stole from a schoolmate in a fight between the “Sozis” and the Nazis. The children flush the badge down the toilet.

The family has lunch, except for Anna’s father who is sick in bed. Anna’s Mama listens eagerly to the children’s stories about school. Anna goes to see her father after lunch and is offended when her Mama yells at her to go away.

Anna writes a poem about a shipwreck and illustrates it with her new crayons. She brings it to her father, who encourages her to continue to write about disasters.