1. Bibliography
Bartoletti,Susan Campbell.2005.
Hitler Youth:Growing up in Hitler's Shadow.New York:NY
Scholastic.ISBN:0439353793
2.Plot Summary
I begin with the young.
We older ones are used up...
But my magnificent youngsters!
Look at these men and boys!
What material! With them, I can create a new world."
-Adolf Hitler
Author Campbell Bartoletti chronicles the rise of the Hitler Youth and the role they played in World War II through photographs,personal recollections, and eyewitness accounts.
Susan Campbell Bartoletti explains how Hitler could have risen to power by twisting the natural idealism and enthusiasm of the German youth. Many children joined for the excitment, cameraderie and adventure that the Nazi youth promised and simply accepted the Nazi view on subjects such as Jews and the war. Hitler Youth attempts to make the decisions of these ordinary German children comprehensible to readers.
The author provides a full portrait of life for young people in Hitler's Germany by also focusing on Jewish children who became the target of the Hitler youth as well as young resisters like Sophie,Hans and Inge Scholl who opposed Hitler and his ideas.
Jewish young people like Bert Loewen and Hanns Peter Herz also recount the hardships that they suffered under the Nazi regime,while the quotes and personal recollections of children such as Hitler Youth,Lothar Loewe give us a unique insight into the minds of children under Hitler's sway.
3.Critical Analysis
The organization of this compelling book, the story of the youths who helped Hitler achieve power, makes the history accessible.
A preliminary section entitled The Young People in this Book introduces each person discussed in the book with a clear photograph and a short explanation of the role that each one played in Nazi history.
An extensive bibliography, a list of quote sources, a foreward, an author's note and a description of the sources of the visually arresting photographs allow the reader to verify the author's research and follow up with further study.
The striking use of the unforgettable photographs arranged on the facing page of each chapter, coupled with clear explanatory captions in italics, as well as the powerfully effective use of quotes as chapter titles, such as Chapter 1's quote "For the Flag, We are Ready to Die:Hitler's Rise to Power" and the division of the text into logically and chronologically ordered chapters that are clearly numbered in what looks like Fraktur typeface lead the reader through the rise and fall of the Hitler Youth.
The very personal eyewitness accounts of the manipulated young people in this book, along with a look at the denazification process conducted by the post-war allies offer a fresh perspective on life in Nazi Germany.The discussion of the aftermath of the war and a timeline as well as an Epilogue that answers the question "What became of the young people in this book?" places the lives of the Nazi Youths in historical context.
The last chapter of the book ends with the chilling questions,"Could another despot like Hitler rise to power on the shoulders of young people ?" and "What are you willing to do to prevent such a shadow from falling over you and others?"
Ending with such powerful questions forces readers to see themselves as part of history and ponder their role in it.
4.Review Excerpts
School Library Journal
"Bartoletti lets many of the subjects' words, emotions, and deeds speak for themselves, bringing them together clearly to tell this story unlike anyone else has."
Hornbook
"With clarity and apt quotation (scrupulously sourced), Bartoletti takes readers from the prewar beginnings of Hitler Youth, through its significant role in gaining Hitler the government, to its ultimate position as a feeder for the German war machine."
5.Connections
Other books about young people caught up in history during the Nazi period:
Opdyke,Irene Gut.In my hands:Memories of a Holocaust rescuer.ISBN 0679891811 This fascinating autobiography,specifically aimed at young people, tells the story of one teen who decided to follow the dictates of her conscience and rescue Jews in Poland.
Frank,Anne.The Diary of a young girl. This classic diary of a young girl hiding from the Nazis is available in many editions. Though it is very familiar,it remains a powerful testament to the human spirit, and a moving account of one young person's experience.
Gottfried,Ted.Children of the slaughter:young people of the holocaust.Ill.by Stephen Alcorn. ISBN:0761317163.
Another well-written book about Jewish children in the Holocaust.
Have young adults read news stories of other genocides happening today, such as the one in Darfur. Discuss what can be done to stop these modern day atrocities.
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