Disclaimer: Victorious and its characters are the property of Schneider's Bakery and Nickelodeon. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. No profit is intended or wanted for this story.
Summary: The gang, and the rest of their class, learn history first-hand.
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"Okay gang. Can I have your attention? I know the new Holiday Showcase is all anyone really cares about lately but..." Daniel Grimes, the Hollywood Arts history teacher paused until everyone in class was actually looking up and waiting for him to finish. Even Jade West.
"For those of you who have been paying attention in class, you might remember what Saturday is. Anyone?" He paused and joked, "Anyone? Bueller?"
One hand in the class rose up slightly. Grimes looked a bit surprised at the hand's owner and said, "Ms. Valentine?"
"It's the anniversary of Kristallnacht, Crystal Night."
"Very good, Ms. Valentine. And what was Kristallnacht?" Again, only one hand rose. "Alright, Ms. Valentine, Surprisingly you must be the only one who has paid attention lately. Care to explain the event?"
"It was the night, in 1938, the Nazis caused a coordinated series of attacks on German Jews and Jewish-owned businesses. After years of anti-Semitic persecution, this was the most overt act of oppression to that date. Over ninety Jews were killed and thirty thousand arrested and sent to the concentration camps. Thousands of businesses were destroyed and something like a thousand synagogues were destroyed in Germany and Austria.
"It's considered the beginning of the Final Solution, the attempt by the Nazi Party to exterminate the Jewish people."
Tori Vega, Andre Harris, Robbie Shapiro and Jade West all looked somewhat surprised at the their friend. Beck Oliver was the only one in class who showed no surprise. He and Cat started dating at the beginning of the year and he had learned there was a lot of depth behind Cat's apparent child-like behavior.
"Ms. Valentine, I'm very impressed." Grimes stepped back to the rear entrance to the classroom. "As tomorrow is November 9th, we'll discuss this. I'll be back in a couple of minutes."
"Cat? How did you know that?" Tori asked.
"Maybe I paid attention in class?" Cat said then giggled. "No... Yeah, no. That's not it."
"Well..." Andre prompted.
"Spill, Kitty-cat," Beck said. He wanted to know too.
"My grandmother, not my Nona but the other one, came from Germany. She survived in one of the death camps and..." Cat, looking unusually sad, took a deep breath, "She was the only one in her family to survie the Holocaust, except for her older brother who left after Kristallnacht for America. He ended up joing the Army and found Grandma. She also met Great-uncle Karl's best friend and they ended up getting married.
"I found out when I saw the serial number tattooed on her arm. I was little and thought it was so cool and wanted one too. She sat me down and told me what it meant and..."
Grimes took that moment to walk back in. "Okay, class. We have three special guests today."
Three elderly people slowly entered the classroom, two men and a woman. All had to be in their late 80s or 90s. "These special guests are Herschel Rothstein, Lena Schmidt and Karl..."
"UNCLE KARL!" Cat yelled as she jumped up and hugged the old man. "I thought you were in Hawaii!"
"My little Kitty-cat. Look how you've grown! You're as beautiful as your grandmother, my dear sister, was." He spoke clearly with just a trace of German in his voice. "When your teacher contact Herschel, he called me. We are old friends from synagogue, you see. I came back last night. I went by the house but no one was there."
"I live at Nona's place in Venice of America. Mom and Dad at up in Idaho with..."
"Ah, that brother of yours," Karl said with an indulgent smile and a shake of his head. "And how is the lovely Mrs. Valentine?"
"She's living with other elderlies at Elderly Acres and..."
"Ms. Valentine, Mr. Kleinschmidt, I'd like to continue, if I may." Grimes had a big smile on his face. He had no idea he had caused a mini-family reunion.
"Of course sir. You are the teacher and have a duty to these children. We'll talk later, Kitty-cat."
"Alright class, as I was saying. This is Mr. Rothstein, Mrs. Schmidt and Mr Kleinschmidt. They are all survivors of Kirstallnacht and the Nazi oppression. We'll start with you Mrs. Schmidt please."
"Thank you," the older woman replied. Her accent was more pronounced than Cat's great-uncle.
"I am the youngest of the three of us. But we were all children on that horrible night. I was only ten years of age. I had known nothing but the Nazis as the government. All their actions against the Jews I thought were natural. But that night, I came to realize that this was not so.
"My uncle called my parents and told us to get out of our house. We were in danger. So my momma and poppa packed suitcases for myself and my younger brother and for them. Also, Poppa took the largest suitcase and packed as much of our silverware as he could. Momma took our photo album and several other pictures that were on the walls.
"I don't know that I still understood until I saw her crying as she packed. Momma almost never cried and I was very scared. She saw this and hugged me and little Ernst, kissing us both and telling us everything would be okay."
The woman took a deep breath and wiped her eyes with a small, lace hanky.
"We went to my uncle's home. He lived on the outskirts of Hamburg away from the troubles. The night was quiet there. In the morning, Poppa and Uncle Max went to our home. It was in ruins,, a burned out shell.
"The next day, my father took our silver and pawned it. Then he paid a ship's captain to take us away from Germany and our home and friends. Uncle Max stayed. He was sure the hatred would burn itself out and life would return to normal. Unfortunately, like many German Jews, he was wrong and..."
Mrs. Schmidt took a long deeper breath and went on, "I never saw Uncle Max again. He died at Bergen-Belsen.
"Years later, near the end of the war, when I heard the radio reports of the Allied firebombing of Hamburg and other cities... I am ashamed to admit it now but then I was happy. So happy that those who took everything from us now had lost everything themselves.
"I now know it wasn't the fault of the average German citizen. The hate-mongers and the rabble-rousers were to blame. And, thanks be to God and the Allies, they paid for their evilness and hatred.
"Thank you children, for listening to this old woman. I hope I didn't bore you much."
Jade, surprising everyone, including her girlfriend, spoke up, her eyes glistening, "No. Not at all. Thank you, Mrs. Schmidt."
Her thanks was echoed by the others in the class.
Grimes stepped up again. "Thank you, Mrs Schmidt. Now, if Mr. Rothstein would be so kind?"