At the tender age of eight, our teacher, Frau Klob, took us on a Lehrausflug, an educational excursion, to one of Vienna’s most iconic landmarks: the Stefanskirche, St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

Before I could whisper a word of hesitation, or reveal the fact that a Jewish girl was not supposed to enter a church, I was marching two by two, holding the hand of another little girl with bows in her hair, as we entered the enormous cathedral.

It was the eerie scent that first irritated my nostrils. The heavy fumes of incense seemed to attach themselves to me and remained in my memory for a very long time.

I tried hard not to........

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