What is the theme in Friedrich by Hans Peter Richter?

Anti-Semitism is a strong theme in this story. Friedrich shows German society between the world wars harboring the medieval uneasiness of having Jews living in their midst. Even the narrator's mother feels compelled to notice Friedrich's circumcision when she gives the two boys a bath. Her father and the landlord are openly prejudiced against Jews, and shopkeepers use their department stores as excuses for not prospering themselves.