Hitler Youth: Growing Up In Hitler's Shadow

Picture Book Review
LS 5603.20/Spring 2010
S. Vardell

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Hitler Youth: Growing up in Hiter's Shadow. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2005. ISBN 0-439-35379-3

 PLOT SUMMARY:

Germany 1926, Adolph Hitler officially created the Hitlerjugend, the Hitler Youth. Hitler has been quoted to say, "I begin with the young, we older ones are used up...but my magnificent youngsters!" This is the story "about the children and teenagers who followed Hitler and the National Socialist Party during the years 1933 to 1945" (Bartoletti 2005). This is the story of twelve German boys and girls.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

It is clear that author Susan Campbell Bartoletti spent countless hours researching factual information, written records, photographs past and present and seeking the personal accounts for her book, Hitler Youth: Growing Up In Hitler's Shadow. Following the table of contents Bartoletti engages the reader with a two page layout that gives brief biographies about "The Young People In this Book". Chronologically unfolding, this text takes the reader on an uncomfortable journey. Bartoletti uses straight forward language to tell these personal observations and accounts. This straight forward approach treats the reader and the subjects with respect and doesn't minimalize the tragedy experienced. Bartoletti includes an Epilogue telling "What became of the young people in this book". Following the Epilogue is a "Timeline of the Hitler Youth" as well as an "Author's Note". She continues to add credibility by adding a section "About the Photographs". Susan Campbell Bartoletti's documentation is meticulous. Time is taken to "Quote Sources" within the story and the text ends with an exstensive Bibliography, Acknowledgments and detailed Index. As a result, Hitler Youth: Born in Hitler's Shadow is a valuable award winning resource that will add diversity and conversation to any who study or seek information about the era in our history that is World War II.

AWARDS WON AND REVIEW EXCERPTS:
Carolyn W. Field Award, 2006 Winner United States
John Newbery Medal, 2006 Honor Book United States
Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, 2005 Honor United States
Parents' Choice Award, 2005 Gold Non-Fiction United States
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal, 2006 Honor Book United States
Top of the List: Editors' Choice, 2005 Winner Youth Nonfiction United States

From School Library Journal
Starred Review. Grade 5-8–Hitler's plans for the future of Germany relied significantly on its young people, and this excellent history shows how he attempted to carry out his mission with the establishment of the Hitler Youth, or Hitlerjugend, in 1926. With a focus on the years between 1933 and the end of the war in 1945, Bartoletti explains the roles that millions of boys and girls unwittingly played in the horrors of the Third Reich.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Gr. 7-10. 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 Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Photos credited to:  Susan Campbell Bartoletti Official Website
                               http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/library/blog/blog_images/hitleryouth.jpg
                               www.hermes-press.com/ police_state.htm

CONNECTIONS:

The work of Susan Campbell Bartoletti
World War II

Additional Titles:
The boy who dared
2008 by Susan Campbell Bartoletti. Scholastic Press, New York : U.S.A [Fic] [PZ7.B2844 Boy 2008 ]
Daniel half human : and the good Nazi
2004 David Chotjewitz ; translated by Doris Orgel. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, New York : U.S.A [Fic] [PZ7.C446355 Dan 2004 ]
Children of the swastika : the Hitler Youth
1993 Eileen Heyes. Millbrook Press, Brookfield, Conn. : U.S.A [324.243/038] [DD253.5 .H48 1993 ]
Soldier boys
2001 Dean Hughes. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, New York : U.S.A [Fic] [PZ7.H87312 So 2001 ] Lexile: 0790

 Titles retrieved from Children's Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD)

Related topics from CLCD
Hitler-Jugend Juvenile literature.
National socialism and youth Juvenile literature.
Jewish youth--Germany--History--20th century Juvenile literature.
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany Juvenile literature.
Jewish children in the Holocaust Juvenile literature.

This documentary by Guido Knopp and the ZDF Contemporary History Department is the first comprehensive film portrayal of the young people in the Third Reich. Above is part 1 of 5 provided by Youtube.