Gideon Klein graduated from the Jirásek Grammar School on 21 May 1938. The day before could well be described as the slow beginning to a brutal end for Czechoslovakia's Jews, for it was the day when the Czech government ordered a partial mobilisation of troops in response to a feared German attack. The prelude to the so-called Munich Agreement had started, and with it the run-up to the Second World War. His inscription of ‘These were good times’ on the score of the melodrama he completed only a few weeks later was surely a reflection of a more carefree world.

But for Klein, the academic year ended well. Lisa relates that ‘Gideon passed the Czech language exam with signum laudis distinction because he brilliantly elaborated on the given topic’. The grades on his school reports had always been exemplary, no less so than the reports from the Conservatoire. Klein's school years were, then, replete with glittering prizes, if only in terms of consistently high grades.

It was to be an exciting summer for Klein, and he had a coveted place secured as a full-time student at the Conservatoire Master Class, as it was known, to continue his lessons with Vilém Kurz. Alongside these studies, he would also enrol for some academic classes at the Faculty of Arts at Charles University. Having completed The Poplar Tree on 11 July, he left Prague four days later for a month-long tour of Italy. During that time, he kept a detailed notebook and diary, and maintained regular contact with the family back home. The notebook and the correspondence create an intimate portrait of an outstandingly intellectually mature eighteen-year old. Though Klein was awestruck by the art and culture he encountered on his tour, and though his discerning evaluations of it belie his age, he nevertheless quite clearly had fun. In one sense, the diary is rather poignant, for it demonstrates the fragility of his world. In the summer of 1938, he was, along with countless other highly cultured and educated Czech Jews in Prague, enjoying something of a privileged position.