My summary of " The Berlin Boxing Club" by Robert Sharenow
This story is about a teenage boy living in Berlin, Germany in the Nazi Era. He lives in an apartment with his mother, father and sister, Hildy. Karl's family is Jewish by race but they remain without a religion so Karl doesn't consider himself Jewish at all. Also Karl and his mother look much more German than Jewish and his father and sister look much more Jewish than German.
Karl goes to a school with mostly German boys and only a handful of Jewish boys. One day the school bullies find out that Karl is mostly Jewish and they beat him up after school. Karl denied to tell anyone that he got beat up and explained his bumps and bruises by saying that he fell down the stairs. That night one of Germany's most famous boxers, Max Schmeling, comes to Karl's fathers art gallery to buy artwork for his home. He notices that Karl got beat up and instead of paying for the paintings offered to give Karl boxing lessons instead.
On Karl's first day of boxing lessons he is put in the ring with one of the veteran fighters at the Berlin Boxing Club. Because of his lack of practice, Karl is made fun of by the other, older boxers for stumbling around and falling backwards after every punch. Max though, praised Karl for his height and his ability to throw a good punch.
Karl trained everyday for boxing and went to the club very often. He shoveled coal for the mean landlord of his apartment building and starts getting acquainted with his long time crush, Gretta Hauser. Over the summer Karl spends his time training and meeting up with Gretta as Max is in America training for his fight against Joe Louis. Karl also wins all of the matches he is put in by the owner of the Berlin Boxing Club.
About a year later Max is schedueled to fight Joe Louis, an African American and is pressured by his country to supposedly show the world how inferior other races were to Aryan. Max won the fight easily and gained much popularity. On the night of the fight, Karl and the other members of the club gathered and drank beer and listened to the fight on the radio.
A couple years later Karl is going to meet Gretta at the park and finds her getting harassed by the landlord of their apartment building. He tries to stop him but it results in Karl's family being thrown out of their apartment with no place to go.
They end up moving into the art gallery that Karl's father owns. Soon after moving into the gallery, Karl's mentor, Max is schedueled to have a rematch against Joe Louis. This time Joe Louis dominates the match and beats Max in the first round. The Nazis become very upset and pay no attention to Max Schmeling because they find him a discrase to Germany.
After a Jew in Poland kills a German Ambassador many groups of German's terrorize the part of the city where Karl and his family are living. A group of Nazis break into the Gallery and stab Karl's father in the side. His mother brings his father to the hospital, leaving Karl and his sister home alone during an attack. So, Karl calls his fathers business associate, The Countess and has him come and bring Karl and his sister to his apartment in a German part of Berlin.
Karl gets tired of waiting and goes to the Excelsior Hotel to find Max to see if he can help. Max bring Karl and Hildy to the hotel and helps them locate his mother only to find out that their father has been taken to a concentration camp. Weeks pass as the Stern family tries to locate their father with no success so their mother sends Karl and Hildy to America to stay with their cousins as their parents remain in Germany.
Karl goes to a school with mostly German boys and only a handful of Jewish boys. One day the school bullies find out that Karl is mostly Jewish and they beat him up after school. Karl denied to tell anyone that he got beat up and explained his bumps and bruises by saying that he fell down the stairs. That night one of Germany's most famous boxers, Max Schmeling, comes to Karl's fathers art gallery to buy artwork for his home. He notices that Karl got beat up and instead of paying for the paintings offered to give Karl boxing lessons instead.
On Karl's first day of boxing lessons he is put in the ring with one of the veteran fighters at the Berlin Boxing Club. Because of his lack of practice, Karl is made fun of by the other, older boxers for stumbling around and falling backwards after every punch. Max though, praised Karl for his height and his ability to throw a good punch.
Karl trained everyday for boxing and went to the club very often. He shoveled coal for the mean landlord of his apartment building and starts getting acquainted with his long time crush, Gretta Hauser. Over the summer Karl spends his time training and meeting up with Gretta as Max is in America training for his fight against Joe Louis. Karl also wins all of the matches he is put in by the owner of the Berlin Boxing Club.
About a year later Max is schedueled to fight Joe Louis, an African American and is pressured by his country to supposedly show the world how inferior other races were to Aryan. Max won the fight easily and gained much popularity. On the night of the fight, Karl and the other members of the club gathered and drank beer and listened to the fight on the radio.
A couple years later Karl is going to meet Gretta at the park and finds her getting harassed by the landlord of their apartment building. He tries to stop him but it results in Karl's family being thrown out of their apartment with no place to go.
They end up moving into the art gallery that Karl's father owns. Soon after moving into the gallery, Karl's mentor, Max is schedueled to have a rematch against Joe Louis. This time Joe Louis dominates the match and beats Max in the first round. The Nazis become very upset and pay no attention to Max Schmeling because they find him a discrase to Germany.
After a Jew in Poland kills a German Ambassador many groups of German's terrorize the part of the city where Karl and his family are living. A group of Nazis break into the Gallery and stab Karl's father in the side. His mother brings his father to the hospital, leaving Karl and his sister home alone during an attack. So, Karl calls his fathers business associate, The Countess and has him come and bring Karl and his sister to his apartment in a German part of Berlin.
Karl gets tired of waiting and goes to the Excelsior Hotel to find Max to see if he can help. Max bring Karl and Hildy to the hotel and helps them locate his mother only to find out that their father has been taken to a concentration camp. Weeks pass as the Stern family tries to locate their father with no success so their mother sends Karl and Hildy to America to stay with their cousins as their parents remain in Germany.