The story revolves around Solomon Perel, a Jewish boy living in Nazi Germany during World War II. To avoid persecution, Solomon decides to conceal his Jewish identity and joins the Hitler Youth. He later enlists in the German army, adopting the alias "Joseph Peters" and hiding his circumcision.
Solomon's journey is marked by his struggles to maintain his secret while navigating the dangers of war and his relationships with comrades, including a close friendship with Robert Kellerman. After Robert's death, Solomon continues to serve in the German army, attending an elite Nazi school and befriending a girl named Leni, who is unaware of his true identity.
As the war progresses, Solomon becomes increasingly desperate to keep his secret safe, even going so far as to attempt to alter his circumcision. Eventually, his ruse is nearly exposed, but he is saved by an air raid.
As the Allies close in, Solomon surrenders to Soviet troops and is reunited with his brother Isaac, a concentration camp survivor. Isaac helps Solomon escape detection and the two brothers eventually make their way to the Americans. After the war, Solomon moves to Palestine and starts a new life.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. Solomon Pirel was born into a Jewish family during the height of Nazism.
2. Solomon's family was attacked, and he had to hide in a barrel on the street.
3. Solomon was given a jacket with Nazi symbols to wear.
4. Solomon's sister was killed, and his father took the family to Poland.
5. Solomon became friends with a cashier girl at a cinema in Poland.
6. Solomon's brother, David, returned from the front and said the Nazis could not be defeated.
7. Solomon's father decided to take Solomon and his brother to the east.
8. The brothers were separated while crossing a river and ended up on different boats.
9. Solomon was sent to an orphanage, where he became an exemplary pioneer.
10. Solomon rejected his Jewish faith and wore a red tie.
11. Solomon became friends with a boy named Zenok, who continued to believe in God.
12. Solomon became a Komsomol member and was sent to fight with the Nazis.
13. Solomon was captured by the Nazis and pretended to be a German named Joseph Peters.
14. Solomon met a soldier named Robert Kellerman, who was an artist and became his friend.
15. Robert discovered Solomon's secret that he was a Jew.
16. Robert was killed in battle, and Solomon decided to surrender to the Bolsheviks.
17. Solomon was considered a hero by the Nazis and was sent to an elite Nazi school.
18. Solomon was forced to take an oath and swear allegiance to the Fuhrer.
19. Solomon met a girl named Lenina, who was fiercely anti-Semitic.
20. Solomon tried to correct his circumcised body part to avoid detection.
21. Solomon's attempt to correct his body part failed and caused him pain.
22. Solomon went to the ghetto to find his relatives but was not allowed in.
23. Solomon saw the suffering and death of Jews in the ghetto.
24. Solomon's relationship with Lenina did not work out.
25. Solomon's friend, who made Lenina pregnant, was killed in a bombing.
26. Solomon realized that Germany would lose the war and tried to surrender to the Soviet troops.
27. Solomon was captured by Soviet officers and nearly killed by a concentration camp prisoner.
28. Solomon's brother, Isaac, appeared and recognized him.
29. Isaac had spent time in a concentration camp, and their parents were killed.
30. Isaac forgave Solomon for serving as a fascist and got him clothes from a concentration camp prisoner.
31. Solomon moved to Palestine and started a family after the war.