Emma Richter is a middle-aged German woman attending a night-school. Emma has taken interest in her teacher, Mr. Michel, and leaves him pieces of literature on his desk, like love letters. An incident occurs in another one of Emma's classes, where she tells a Jewish student that she doesn't like Jews, not knowing his ethnic background. The principal gets involved and threatens to expel Emma for the behavior. Emma writes to Mr. Michel, not knowing that he is Jewish, and tells him that she needs his help making a complaint about Albert Einstein, convinced of a conspiracy that Jewish people are creating degeneracy in their society. Mr. Michel grapples with the note, but ultimately decides that it would be best not to show the principal and get her expelled, but rather to spend the rest of the year making a good impression on her, only to reveal to her that he is Jewish and illustrate that Jewish people are not inherently good or evil. When the year ends, Mr. Michel lectures to Emma privately about how there is no correlation between evilness and Jewish people, and finally reveals that he is Jewish. Rather than being shocked from the information and learning from it, Emma laughs it off, insistent that Mr. Michel is joking with her, then leaves.