Pranav Menon

C Block

It is the winter of 1942, and teenager Korinna Rehme is a proud Nazi. She hates

the enemy, the Jews. Her love is for her family and for the Nazi party, now in full power.

Korinna readily attends her Jungmadel, or Hitler Youth Organization, meetings. The Nazi

German culture in Behind the Bedroom Wall by Laura E. Williams directly affects the

actions of Korinna Rehme, the main character of the book, by forcing her to attend

Jungmadel meetings, making her despise Jewish people, and also making her turn in

those close to her for associating themselves with Jewish people.

The Fuhrer of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, created the Hitler Youth Organization

to train children to become Nazis at a young age. In the 1940s, it was part of the German

culture for kids to join the organization, and Korinna was no exception. She attended the

meetings almost every day after school. There, she would go on hikes, bake, sing songs

and play music, and have all kinds fun. While she was doing this, the leaders of

Jungmadel were slowly instilling in her a dislike for the Jewish people and all who cared

for them. She kept a small black notebook with her at all times, in which she noted things

the seemed “un-German”. She noted when her history teacher even slightly questioned

Hitler’s decisions. She then reported her teacher to her Jungmadel leaders. Her teacher

was sent to a work camp afterwards. Korinna even thought of reporting her parents after

she found out that they were helping a Jewish family escape. Such was the way

Jungmadel slowly corrupted the minds of German youths in the time of the Nazi party.

The Nazi party changed the way religion was practiced in Germany completely.

Korinna, being a supporter of the Nazi party, took part in this religious discrimination as
well. Her dislike for Jews runs so deep that she is even prepared to hurt young children.

When Korinna finds the Jewish family hiding behind her wall, the little girl comes out in

an attempt to befriend her: “Her [little Jewish girl] wide eyes roamed the room and

finally fell on Korinna. She smiled. Korinna glared at her until the little girl pulled back

into the shadows, her smile gone, lips trembling”(pg. 39). Even when her mother was

cooking for the Krugmanns, the Jewish family hiding in the Rehme abode, Korinna had

angrily said, “ ‘They’re the enemy. You shouldn’t be waiting on them the way you are’”

(pg.54). Nazi German culture obliterated the normal religious views of pre-Third Reich

German culture.

It’s amazing the way Jungmadel made young children turn against those close to

them. Korinna reported those who were being “un-German” by taking notes in a small

black notebook given to her by the Jungmadel leaders. At first she, reported her history

teacher, Fraulein (Ms.) Meiser. She accused her teacher of being “un-German” because

of something she said during class. She looked up at the ceiling as the children pasted

pages together in the history book and said, “When will all this stop? When?” (pg.19).

Korinna did not stop there. She even wrote down in her notebook “My parents are the

enemy” once she learned of her parents’ secret activities. Jungmadel has a special brand

of brainwashing that seems to be very effective on children.

Nazi German culture and ideas drove Korinna’s actions in the book Behind the

Bedroom Wall by Laura E. Williams. She actively participated in her local Jungmadel,

despised Jews, and even reported those close to her for being “Jew-lovers”. Thankfully,

by the end of the book, Korinna did realize the faults of the Nazi party, and she decided

where her loyalties lied: With those who were suffering under the Nazi party. This
culture and party have disappeared from the mainstream of politics, to the relief of the

world. Hopefully, historians in the future will never have to write anything like this in

history books ever again.