Alfred’s mother, Lilly Strauss told her son years later about a couple of
little episodes that show, how confusing it was for a smart little boy to
deal with the spectacular symbols and NS-mania of the Nazi era:
Alfred Strauss recalls:
When my mother was still alive she told me that I once came home, after I
had watched the marching of the ”Hitler Youth”. It must have made quite an
impression on me for I was absolutely thrilled about it. Thus I asked her:
”Mom, when may I join the ”Hitler Juden”? Of course, that’s how I
understood it as an ignorant child.
My Mom also recalled, that grandpa Wertheim, after my grandparents had
moved in with us, used to take me along on walks up and down the
"Bahnhofsstraße". One day, after he came home with me, he told my Mom
that he wasn’t going to take me along anymore. When Mom asked him why
he’d say that, grandpa told her, that I had greeted everyone we’d pass with
”Heil Hitler”. Certainly, I just copied other people. Small wonder that this
was embarrassing to grandpa!