Although Andrew was of the same religion, he was a mix between his orthodox father and Jewish mother, which brought an apparent difference between the type of "dirty Jew" that Arpad was perceived to be. Since his peers found him to be someone who differed from one of "those Jews" had accepted him, Andrew was generally accepted and did not experience racism as a child. He had though heard stories of it from his Uncle Joe who served in the military. Finally in the fall of 1938, Andrew's father was abruptly called back to active duty in the military as Hitler slowly began to tear apart Czechoslovakia, leaving his wife to open a glass repair store until his return a few months later. Andrew was sent to a small pension every afternoon, run by a widow that served lunch to the middle-class men in the neighboring offices. There he picked up the habit of reading the anti-Semitic Nazi papers while eating and slowly picking up a keen understanding and comprehension of German and also a different perspective about the Jewish community. The disbeliefs that Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and "Final Solution" would ever become a reality were confirmed true as images of terror and destruction flashed through newsreels. The freedom of the Jews living in Budapest still remained untouched for the most part in 1939, but no man could have foreseen the devastation that the mass genocide was ready to unveil. .
In 1939, the Jewish community slowly began to lose its footing in Hungarian society as Admiral Horthy administered more anti-Semitic laws. Hitler finally conquered Czechoslovakia and continued to push his way into Poland, forcing Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany. Andrew's father was once again called to serve in the army, only this time mainly as a servant to Hungarian officers and lower-ranking officials. He did return every so often, having bought his way out for a few days, but only to ask questions regarding his children and wife, never to tell stories of the army and the discrimination involved.