Hitler Youth: Growing up in
Hitler’s Shadow
By Susan
Campbell Bartoletti
Bibliography
Bartoletti, S. C. (2005). Hitler Youth: Growing up in
Hitler's shadow. New York, NY: Scholastic Nonfiction.
Summary
A history of the Hitler Youth and how involved and the
impact they had on Hitler’s war machine is detailed. Many individual, personal
stories are given. A personal touch is
added by including experiences by Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans.
Reviews
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's
Shadow. (2005, Oct). School Library Journal, 5147.
Gr 5-8-- The Nazis' disturbing indoctrination of
children and young people is examined through the experiences of 12 young
people who were members of the Hitler
Youth
group. This exceptionally well-documented account is illustrated with numerous
black-and-white photos from several sources, ranging from Nazi propaganda to
family albums.
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's
Shadow. (2005, May 23). Publishers Weekly, 252(21), 79-80.
Bartoletti
(Kids on Strike!) offers a unique and riveting perspective on WWII by focusing
on the young people who followed Hitler
from 1933-1945. The narrative primarily focuses on members of the Hitler Youth, but also
profiles some of the group's dissidents and its Jewish targets. Hitler began his
quest for dominance with young people, recognizing them as "a powerful
political force" and claiming, "With them I can make a new
world." Bartoletti describes how the propaganda of the Hitler Youth attracted
children: "The overnight camping trips, campfires, and parades sounded
like a great deal of fun," said one 12-year-old. But the organization also
emphasized loyalty to the Third Reich above all (including family--one
eight-year-old, Elisabeth Vetter, turned in her parents to the Nazis). The
author personalizes the war by placing identifiable individuals at the center
of the events, such as Sophie Scholl, who moved away from Nazi ideas as a teen
and in college joined the "White Rose" group that published pamphlets
detailing Nazi evils and urging resistance--a crime for which she and others
were executed. Powerful black-and-white photographs testify to the lure and
also the cruelty of the Nazis. Bartoletti's portrait of individuals within the Hitler Youth who failed
to realize that they served "a mass murderer" is convincing, and
while it does not excuse the atrocities, it certainly will allow readers to
comprehend the circumstances that led to the formation of Hitler's youngest
zealots. Ages 7-10. (Apr.)
My thoughts
This was a
fascinating book. Learning the extent to
which the Hitler Youth was utilized in all aspects of the German’s efforts in
World War II was an eye-opener. The
inclusion of stories of individuals involved personalizes the experience.
How it can be used in the library
This
could be paired with Anne Frank’s Diary to compare and contrast the experiences
of children during World War II.
No comments:
Post a Comment