How do the Michael's feelings about the trial become "awakened" in Chapter 3?

Michael's feelings about the trial come flooding back to him when Gertrud tells him that the professor who had given the concentration camp seminar has died. Gertrud asks Michael if he wants to go to the funeral, and though Michael does not want to go, the reminder is too strong and his old feelings come back. Michael decides to take a streetcar to the funeral, something he has not done in a great while.