September 23, 1918; the Great War had ravaged the lives of millions throughout the world and there seemed to be no end in sight. President Wilson signed the Sedition act of 1918 that summer, which caused the suppression of voices and opinion in my community. Influential people in my community spoke out against the war and they were silenced by being put in prison. My father was against this war; he would attend rallies where the speakers would stand against the injustice that this war has caused, and how German Americans were treated by the government; his position on this topic caused strain on our family. My mother would worry that my father would be jailed due to his ‘position in the movement.’ My father persisted in his stance.

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“Bob, when do you think the war will be over?” my mother asked as we huddled together around the table at breakfast.

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“Oh Irene, it will all be over when there is a peace settlement in Europe," my father projected across the table while he ate his breakfast.

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 “Everyday more and more land is taken by the Triple Entente, the more taken by a country like France, the shorter this war will be,”  he also stated with great affirmation.

Mom seemed to loosen up after being tense throughout breakfast and she let a light smirk appear on her face. My mom was a humanist. She was stressed about the war, the people injured and killed, and for her to hear that the Triple Entente had just a bit more leverage in Europe, it helped her to ease her senses since she understood that this might eventually end this war.

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After breakfast I started my walk to school. My sister—who usually accompanies me on my walk—was staying home due to her having a fever. That morning was different than usual, school had just started around 2 weeks ago and this was the first full year where there was significant United States involvement in the great war. My classmates had conversed on whether or not the war would rage on, I usually stayed out of conversations about the war. The war was a touchy subject for me, see, I’m a German-American, my community has earned this reputation which is mostly based on stereotypes that are completely untrue. I was able to get to class before the bell rang, when I walked into class I saw my best friend. This was the first time I saw him since he won the state baseball championship on Friday.

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“Hey Carl, congratulations again on your win,” I said.

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“Thanks for coming to my game on Friday, I needed support from a friend like you,” Carl said with a smile. 

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As the bell rang, the teacher marched into the classroom, everyone sat down in their chairs. “Alright class, open your English textbook to 452 and read the passage,” which bellowed out with a grit in his throat.

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As I was reading my textbook, Carl was whispering my name. My seat was next to Carl’s seat, which was a mild distraction from my schoolwork.

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“What is it?” I asked Carl.

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“Have you ever noticed the bald spot on the back of Mr. Johnson’s head?” muttered Carl.

“Yeah, what about it?” I whispered as I was writing my answers down on my assignment.

“Everyday his bald spot is shaped like a different object. On Friday it was shaped like a banana, today it’s shaped like a baseball bat, do you think it’s intentional?”

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“How would I know?” I uttered with a quick response since I was feeling the stress of schoolwork fall on me. Carl was the kind of student who, if he tried, he would be a high-achieving student, but Carl only does the bare minimum which causes him to get low grades, but grades decent enough for Carl to pass onto the next grade. He’s a great friend and all, but I just wish that he would take his schoolwork more seriously.

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As I went back to reading my passage, a classmate started to throw paper balls at me. I ignored him at first. He kept throwing paper balls at me. When I reached for a paper ball, and opened it, I noticed that the paper was written on. When I read it, I saw it said, “Go back to Germany you drunken Hahn.”

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I knew this was going to happen this year. I didn’t know when and I didn’t know how but I knew I was going to be made fun of because I have German heritage. I kept the paper and showed it to Carl, he was shocked and knew exactly who it came from.

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“I know you don’t want to hear this from me but I want you to ignore them and I want you to keep persevering, one day this war will be over and you won’t be targeted as much.” As I listened to him and he kept talking, something inside of me loosened up, I was no longer worried about how people looked at me.

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I remember November 11th 1918 like it was yesterday, even if 20 years have passed. It was only a few months after the talk that Carl gave me which changed my whole mindset on  how people look at me. I remember watching my parent’s faces switch from a constant stressed facial reaction to a joyous, relieved facial reaction. I remember my dad grasping me and my sister in his arms while we were overlooking the fireworks on the riverfront. It’s been 15 years since my father passed and my mother hasn’t stopped mourning since then. She still wears her wedding ring to this day, showing her unwavering love to her husband and plans on being buried with her ring, just like how he was as his love for her was timeless. Over time, sentiment against Germans went away and I was able to be respected like how I yearned to be in high school. Me, my mother, and sister still celebrate German traditions with my new family, hoping to pass on the tradition to my kids.