I ran through the square and along the cobbled streets until I could no longer hear the crowd’s baying and jeering.

And then, in the quiet of a deserted street, I leaned against a wall and retched, over and over, until my throat burned and my stomach cramped.

Even so, the pain was nothing compared to the ache in my heart.

MAX

Max sat at the kitchen table with his homework. He’d been looking at the same page for over half an hour but every time he read a line his mind swam with the morning’s events and he couldn’t focus.

Sadness and confusion battled against each other inside his chest.

The strangest thing was that the day had continued like any other. The assembly had been dismissed, children sent back to classes and everything had gone on as normal. As if twelve of their schoolmates hadn’t been called dogs and separated from the rest of the school.

The sound of the front door closing made Max jump. His father was home early. Mr Fischer came to the kitchen doorway.

‘Come here,’ he said to his wife as he crossed the kitchen. She was at the sink preparing vegetables.

Max’s mother wiped her hands on her apron and turned towards her husband. ‘You seem happy,’ she said as he took her hands in his and kissed her.

‘I am happy,’ he said.

‘Good day at work?’

‘An excellent day,’ he said. ‘Very productive.’

Mrs Fischer looked down. ‘Your boots are covered in mud!’ she exclaimed. ‘How did they get like that?’

Her husband waved a hand as if to swat a fly away. ‘Oh, it was nothing,’ he said. ‘Just some dirt that got in my way.’ He laughed as if sharing a private joke with himself. ‘Anyway,’ he went on. ‘I have good news. I have been promoted.’

Max’s mother clapped her hands. ‘Oh, that’s wonderful!’ she said. She turned to her son. ‘Max, darling. Isn’t that wonderful?’

Max forced himself to smile. Even the effort of doing it made him feel like a traitor to his friend. ‘That’s very good news, Father,’ he said.

‘It is. Hitler has singled me out for a new role. I have been instrumental in strengthening his work here in Austria. I have shown an exemplary level of commitment and loyalty, and now he wants me to join the heart of the movement. I am to become a senior SS officer.’

‘What does that mean?’ Max’s mother asked.

Mr Fischer smiled before replying. ‘It means we are moving to Munich,’ he said. ‘We leave next week.’

Max tried to respond, but found that when he opened his mouth, no words came out. If this had been just a day earlier, he would have been devastated to be taken away from his home, from Leo, from everything he knew.

But now? Now he wasn’t sure what he felt.