NONFICTION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. 2005. Hitler Youth: Growing up in Hitler’s Shadow. New yourk: Scholastic, Inc. ISBN 9780439353793


PLOT SUMMARY

This is a story how the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party affected the young people of Germany. The Hitler Youth organization was formed to inculcate the proper Nazi values in the minds of the young and create the next generation of warrior – citizens for the Third Reich. The stories of several individuals unfold as they gain training in Nazi ideology and sports. Boys were taught military tactics and weapons use. Girls learned nursing and instructions in household duties and social work. Schooling was carefully regimented with an emphasis on sports and gymnastics and downplaying of academics. Hitler Youth were only allowed to study certain approved writers and subjects. Hatred of all people and things non-German was demanded of all young people. Manual labor was required of all boys. All those too young to serve in the military worked as support laborers digging foxholes and bunkers. By the end of the war, many young people were actively fighting Allied troops. The Hitler Youth existed from 1926 to 1945 and only anded with the defeat of Hitler’s Germany.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This is a handsome book on a grim subject. It is extremely well designed with print that is crisp and easy to read. The vocabulary is adult without being academic. There are black and white photographs on nearly every page accompanied with detailed captions. These supplement the main body of the text. This is a book for young adults and every young adult should read it. We all need to be constantly reminded that there was a time when light of civilization was almost extinguished forever. Totalitarian forces are still with us and the more we know of their methods the better armed we will be. Only through studying this and other books, books that tyrants would ban, will young people learn about the past and, perhaps, save the future.

REVIEW EXCERPT

“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. (…) The power of the account is matched by the many period candid and propaganda photographs, well-married to the text by strong captions and placement and an unobtrusive but period-evocative Art Deco page design. Appended material includes capsule information about what happened to each of the young people featured in the book (several of whom were interviewed by the author), first-rate source notes, a thorough bibliography and reading list, and an index.”
Smith, R. (2005). Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow. Horn Book Magazine, 81(3), 345-346.

CONNECTIONS
Murphy, J. (2003). An American plague: The true and terrifying story of the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. New York: Clarion Books. ISBN 9780395776087