1935, even then, Max Eisendhardt shows his skill of metal. Max is a Jewish teenager in Germany with apparently inherited skill in making metal jewelry and a very good eyesight. He collected scraps and made a necklace for Magda, a girl working on the grounds of a school Max is attending to.
In school -- consisting of mostly Germans not sympathetic to Jewish -- Max is on top of the class in almost all subjects except in physical activities. In a sports event, he ends up last in all of the events except the last one. The German kids make sure that he gets humiliated at every turn. When he finally does speak up, he is publicly humiliated by the headmaster saying how he's small, weak, and vicious, and his intelligence to be nothing more than degenerate cunning. During the final event, the javelin throw, perhaps inspired by Magda, or the fact that the javelin is metal, or both, he manages to throw the javelin farthest, thus gaining first place and getting a gold medal for it -- much to the chagrin of everyone except Herr Kalb, the only teacher -- apparently also Jewsih -- who seemed to care for him. He warns him to be careful about standing out saying "the nail that sticks up gets hammered down."
After school, he managed to give the necklace to Magda in the midst of a crowd. It turns out to be that his uncle, Erich Eisendhardt, somewhat of a ladies-man, is bound, battered, and bruised by the police with a sign saying "I have shamed a German woman".
It turns out that it was September 15, 1935, the day when the Nuremberg Laws are announced by the Nazis:
A Jew cannot be a citizen of the Reich. Marriages between Jews and German or kindred blood are forbidden. Extramarital intercourse between Jews and nationals of German or kindred blood is forbidden. Jews are forbidden to hoist the Reich and national flag and to present the colors of the Reich.
Back home, the Eisendhardts contemplate on what to do next. Erich wants to pack up and run. Jakob, Max's father and head of the household, wants to stay.
Next day, the headmaster declares that the javelins used in the event yesterday were defective and, therefore, Max was told to return the gold medal which the headmaster declares belongs to a German boy, unless he can throw the javelin the farthest again with a regular javelin.
Event day. The javelin is obviously made heavier to ensure he cannot throw it like before. Despite the disadvantage, the metal javelin still flies the farthest. But instead of a medal, the headmaster announces that he cheated and immediately expels Max from the school. Herr Kalb is also beaten, apparently for showing more sympathy to the Jew than the German kids.
After being expelled, the German boys chase down Max and beat him (with gold medals on their hands) to a bloody mess.
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