Tennstedt, Germany - 1935

"Gerhard Wilhelm Römer, machst du mir nie wider so Angst!"

Mutti was fuming. She marched over to me and pulled me into a tight embrace before placing her hands atop my small, scrawny shoulders. "Du bist in großen Schwierigkeiten," she snapped. "Was haben Sie getan?"

I shook my head. Though I could obviously tell I was in big trouble before she had said so, I lied.

"Du hast mich zu Tode erschreckt, Gerhard Römer!" she cried. She leaned in and kissed my forehead.

"Es tut mir leid, Mutti," I whispered softly. She wrapped her arm around my tiny body and we headed back towards home.

"Ich habe dich stundenlang angerufen, Gerhard. Warum warst du allein da draußen?" she asked.

"Ich spielte, Mutti," I answered, still aware that I was going to be in big trouble once we got home. "Ich weiß, es ist spät; Ich wollte zurück nach Hause, aber..." I paused. Mutti seemed to lose some of the anger in her expression.

"Zumindest würdest du deine eigene Entscheidung treffen, aber trotzdem," she said. She was still onto the idea that although I was going to head home myself, I didn't. "Du solltest nicht so lange draußen bleiben," she continued. "Sie könnten von der Straße geschnappt werden. Sie könnten entführt werden." She thought I was going to get kidnapped? Kidnapping was very uncommon in Tennstedt. Why would Mutti think someone would want to grab a little boy off the street? A mother's worry, perhaps?

Once we arrived home, my father was sitting on his favorite chair, reading the paper, and my older brother, Andreas, was doing schoolwork at the table. His papers were strewn across the table as he scribbled away on a worksheet. Andreas was my best friend. We did everything together. When we played at the lake nearby, I would be on his shoulders and we would wrestle my father in the water. I would also pick flowers with him in the spring and summer months, and we would bring them home to Mutti. My parents were fiercely protective of Andreas and me, as we were their pride and joy, as Mutti liked to say.

Mutti entered the living room with me, holding me by my wrist, causing both Andreas and my father to look up. "Schauen Sie, wer entkommen ist. Wieder mal," she announced.

Andreas didn't say a word. My father, however, set down his paper and walked up to me. "Hören Sie, Gerhard. Ich verstehe, dass du gerne Spaß hast, aber es ist nicht gut, nachts alleine unterwegs zu sein." His voice was gentle, but his words were full of caution. I nodded my head in understanding. "Es ist gefährlich."

Mutti gave my father a look. She told him, "Unser Sohn wird lernen müssen, dass die Welt ein gefährlicher Ort ist. Wenn er etwas tut, was er nicht tun soll, könnte er getötet werden."

She was right. The world was dangerous. Especially now. One wrong move and I could die. Worse, my whole family could die. I couldn't let that happen. Not then, not now, never. But at the same time, I had a rebellious spirit that could not be calmed. If only I could actually put it to good use.