With the 1887 novel "The Community Child," Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach sharply criticized the prevailing belief at the time that criminal attitudes and behaviors are inherited. Pavel Holub and his sister Milada are the children of a father who was hanged for robbery and murder; their mother is serving a long prison sentence. Now, the unwilling community must provide for the livelihood of the two children. Milada is sent to a convent, while Pavel seems to embark on a criminal path with petty thefts and other offenses. Until the boy manages to make a fresh start: With determination and always under the watchful eye of the community, Pavel builds a respectable existence. However, the residents refuse to accept this, and the aggression towards the community child escalates.