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==Plot==
In 1938, in [[Nazi Germany]], thirteen-year-old Solomon "Solek" Perel takes a bath on the eve of his [[Bar and bat mitzvah|bar mitzvah]] when ''[[Kristallnacht]]'' occurs. Solek evades the [[Nazi Party|Nazis]], but returns home to find his sister Berta has been murdered. His father decides the Perel family will move to his birthplace of [[Łódź]] in central [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]], as he believes it will be safer there. Less than a year later, [[World War II]] begins, with the [[German invasion of Poland]]. Solek's family decides he and his brother Isaak should flee to [[Eastern Europe]]. Isaak and Solek head for the eastern border of Poland, only to find that the [[Soviet invasion of Poland|Soviets have invaded]]. The brothers are separated, and Solek ends up in a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[orphanage]] in [[Grodno]] with other [[Internment of refugees in the Soviet Union during World War II|Polish refugee children]].
Solek lives in the orphanage for two years, where he joins the [[Komsomol]], receives a [[
Solek is captured by German soldiers during the [[Operation Barbarossa|German invasion of the Soviet Union]], and finds himself amongst a group of Soviet prisoners. As the German soldiers single out the Jews and [[commissars]] for execution, Solek hides his identity papers and tells the Germans he is "Josef Peters", a "''[[Volksdeutsche]]r''" from a [[Baltic Germans|Baltic German]] family in [[Latvia]]. The soldiers deduce that "Josef" was in the orphanage because his parents were killed by the Soviets, and promise him vengeance. The unit adopts Solek as their interpreter, due to his fluency in German and Russian.
Solek avoids any public bathing or urinating, as his [[Jewish circumcision|circumcised penis]] would expose him as a Jew. Robert, one of the soldiers, sneaks in on Solek while he bathes. Robert reveals he is [[Homosexual male|homosexual]], and promises solidarity to Solek, as both have secrets that the Nazis would kill them for. During combat, Robert is killed, and Solek, the lone survivor of his unit, attempts to reach the Soviet lines. As he crosses a bridge, the unit charges across behind him, and the Soviet troops surrender; Solek is hailed as a hero. The company commander decides to adopt Solek and send him to the elite [[Hitler Youth]] Academy in [[Braunschweig]], to receive a [[Adult education in Nazi Germany|Nazi education]].
At the school, "Josef Peters" is introduced to the other boys as a heroic combat veteran. Solek manages to avoid baring himself through several methods, and attempts to disguise his circumcision with string and rubber bands to simulate a foreskin. During class, a Nazi "expert" in [[Scientific racism|racial science]] uses Solek as a subject to determine his [[Anthropometry|anthropometric indices]], declaring him to be of [[East Baltic race|East Baltic]] heritage, but still with "[[Aryan race|Aryan]] stock". Leni, a member of the [[Bund Deutscher Mädel]] who serves meals at the Academy, becomes infatuated with Solek. He returns Leni's affections, but does not consummate their relationship for fear of exposing himself. The two eventually part ways after Leni makes a violent [[Antisemitism|anti-Semitic]] remark to Solek.
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