ABSTRACT
About the end of the author's first decade, between 1935 and 1936, the comfortable cocoon provided by his family broke brutally, though he did not emerge from it a fully developed butterfly, or even a beetle. Jewishness remained a matter of pride, yet it also appeared to be a glaring stigma. Semi-official anti-Semitism had been constant and demeaning – but not yet ominous. The relationship between Jewish and non-Jewish boys in the author's comparatively eirenic school noticeably worsened after 1935. A more serious threat came when he was summoned by the headmaster and told that he had been accused of insulting the clergy – almost of blasphemy. The author's expulsion was demanded by his accuser, who turned out to be one of his classmates. What had seemed a casual, innocent remark turned into a threatening accusation that gave the author a very anxious week; his parents were visibly worried, if supportive.
