Four Perfect Pebbles

Content Warning: The section of the guide contains discussions of discrimination and violence.

Marion’s mother, Ruth, moved to the small town of Hoya in northwestern Germany after growing up in Prussia (modern Russia). She answered an ad for a bookkeeping position at a shoe store, which was owned by Walter’s parents. Walter proposed to Ruth shortly after she began working there, and they had their two children, Albert and Marion, in 1932 and 1934. Walter’s parents, Marion’s Oma and Opa, lived above the store, while Marion’s family lived on the third floor. The Blumenthals began noticing Hitler and his potential threat as early as the 1920s—a decade during which Hitler’s Nazi party gained traction. Hitler performed speeches across the country, highlighting Jews, communists, Roma people, and those with physical or mental disabilities as the underlying causes for Germany’s continuing economic strife following the First World War. Hitler promised to bring prosperity back to Germany, both through expansion and through targeting groups deemed “enemies within” (13). Although Jews made up less than one percent of the German population at the time, Hitler saw what wealth and influence they did have as a threat to Germany itself.

Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany on January 30th, 1933, by President Hindenburg.