Gemunden is a small agricultural town in central Germany. Before World War II, it had a population of about 1,000 people. Few people born in Gemunden ever moved away from the town, and many families, including Bert’s, could trace their roots in Gemunden back hundreds of years. The town’s population was mainly Protestant, though there were also three Catholic families and 16 Jewish families living among them. All the children in town attended the same public school. The Jewish population was an integral part of the culture and economy of Gemunden until 1933, when the Nazi Party took control of the German government.
