Module 11 - Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow

Summary:

Susan Bartoletti writes this book about twelve people that were part of the Hitler Youth during the time of World War II.  She uses the research and personal interviews to tell the story.  The book is not about Hitler, the Holocaust or the politics surrounding the war.  This book was intended to be told from the perspective of those that were recruited by the Nazis as children.  There are twelve different stories that are told and followed.  Each individual had their own personal accounts to relive and share.  Each experience was unique as to how and why they were recruited.  The Hitler Youth were among the most powerful groups in the world.  When people talk about the Nazis they do not always realize that the majority of them were teenagers and young children.  Bartoletti compiles the information beginning in about the 1930’s from the time many of the people interviewed were recruited.  She tells their story.  


APA Reference: 


Bartoletti, S. C. (2005). Hitler Youth:  Growing up in Hitler’s Shadow. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc. 

My Impressions:

This was one of my favorite books.  When I read this several years ago I was astounded.  We had gone to the Holocaust museum every year in Dallas.  Our 8^th graders learn about the war and the Holocaust during nine weeks of lessons, movies and books.  I had read about this time period and felt I was well versed in it until I came across this book.  When you try to understand why Hitler did what he did, it is clear to see why he chose children to be the backbone of his efforts.  Children are impressionable and easily swayed.  It is hard to imagine waking up every day, attending school and seeing the face of your leader on the classroom walls.  His face was in every classroom and inside every church.  Teachers were teaching what they were told to.  Children were basically being brainwashed every single day of their existence.  These young people did not have the proper defenses to ward off this dictator.  However, like many of those Bartoletti interviewed, there were some that chose to put their efforts in on the other side of the war once they realized what was happening to them.  It is a very inspirational book and will be one of the last books that offer quoted material from people that were actually there.

Professional Reviews:

Booklist Review

What was it like to be a teenager in Germany under Hitler? Bartoletti draws on oral histories, diaries, letters, and her own extensive interviews with Holocaust survivors, Hitler Youth, resisters, and bystanders to tell the history from the viewpoints of people who were there. Most of the accounts and photos bring close the experiences of those who followed Hitler and fought for the Nazis, revealing why they joined, how Hitler used them, what it was like. Henry Mentelmann, for example, talks about Kristallnacht, when Hitler Youth and Storm Troopers wrecked Jewish homes and stores, and remembers thinking that the victims deserved what they got. The stirring photos tell more of the story. One particularly moving picture shows young Germans undergoing de-Nazification by watching images of people in the camps. The handsome book design, with black-and-white historical photos on every double-page spread, will draw in readers and help spark deep discussion, which will extend beyond the Holocaust curriculum. The extensive back matter is a part of the gripping narrative. — Hazel Rochman

Rochman, H. (2005, April 15). [Review of the book Hitler Youth:  Growing up in Hitler’s shadow]. Available from Booklist Website:  http://www.booklistonline.com/Hitler-Youth-Growing-Up-in-Hitler-s-Shadow-Susan-Campbell-Bartoletti/pid=1180952

 Library Uses:

a.       Use this book in the teaching of the Holocaust but also of the conditions of Germany during this time period. 

b.      This book would be a great use for an activity involving young children and allowing them to see how easy it is to be manipulated and how so many were put under this spell.