Life in Berlin: Don't Draw Attention
Ina’s life changed when the family moved to Templehof and as Nazi rule was solidified and state surveillance increased. As the children of a Jewish woman, Ina and her brother were singled out in school. At one point, both children were asked to leave school but they were allowed back with certain conditions such as sitting in the back of the religion classroom for Ina, and for Hellmi submitting to a medical examination verifying that he was not circumcised.
In the city, the Juretschkes faced a host of dangers and risks related to the increasing tensions of the Nazi state. An SS officer lived in their apartment building for example, and even the children’s school assignments were sometimes used to reveal a family’s Jewish heritage. Trude navigated the city streets with her head down, avoiding interactions with state authorities whenever possible, and she counseled her children to never draw attention to themselves.
As a school child Ina simply wanted to fit it, something that was becoming increasingly difficult in Nazi Germany for someone who had a Jewish mother and whose parents did not agree with the ruling party. Ina’s memories of this time in Berlin are of an increasingly tense world. She had few friends in school and lost those she had once the family was identified as Jewish.
