Uncovering Meaning in Hilter's Book: What is He Talking About?

[Raza]

I got this paragraph from his book, What does the underline sentence mean? What is he talking about?

"At the Realschule I knew one Jewish boy. In the Jew I saw only a man who was of a different religion, and therefore, on grounds of human tolerance, I was against the idea that he should be attacked. Once, when passing through the inner City, I encountered a phenomenon in a long caftan and black side-locks. My first thought was: Is this a Jew? Is this a German? I bought some anti-Semitic pamphlets. But most of the statements made were superficial and the proofs extraordinarily unscientific. But any indecision was removed by the activities a great movement, called Zionism. Its aim was to assert the national character of Judaism, and the movement was strongly represented in Vienna."

 

[radou]

Once, when passing through the inner City, I encountered a phenomenon in a long caftan and black side-locks.

Are you in possession of a dictionary? If not, you can google it up.

Find 'caftan' and 'side-locks'.

 

[verty]

Well without looking up anything, a caftan sounds like a garment of some sort and black side-locks sounds like locks of hair, so I'd guess it was someone who looked out of place (on account of the clothes and hairstyle). The use of the word 'phenomenon' is a metaphor, meaning that the presence of this odd-looking person was phenomenal, out of the ordinary.