As he came near, my sister and I moved slowly across the street side by side. Mr. Fenchel looked up and saw us moving toward him. We stopped in the gutter as he came by. He broke into a smile and said, “Gut efning, Chon. Gut efning, Mary.” We stood stiffly side by side and we said in unison, “Hoch der Kaiser!” I can see his face now, his startled innocent blue eyes. He tried to say something and then he began to cry. Didn’t even try to pretend he wasn’t. He just stood there sobbing. And do you know?—Mary and I turned around and walked stiffly across the street and into our front yard. We felt
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i feel so hurt and horrible. I understand the children's cruelty, the guilt, and a pained empathy towards the immigrant German man being targeted
