Hitler Youth by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Reviewed by Lori

Hitler Youth: Growing Up In Hitler's Shadow

Title: Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow

Author: Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 137945

Description: Gives voice to the youth of Europe who were faced with choosing between indoctrination into the Nazi party or being targeted as undesirables and how they dealt with the consequences at the end of WWII.

***Newberry Honor Book***

Rubric Rating: Level 3: Laud It

Why I Read It: I like books about history and this seemed like a good nonfiction book about this time period.  On quick scan it didn't seem to dense or overwhelming.

Lori's Notes: Hitler Youth: Growing up in Hitler's Shadow is an amazing non-fiction account of 12 children and teens living in Germany during the indoctrination of the Hitler Youth and the rise of Adolf Hitler.  As a student one learns about the causes of war, dates of significant battles, and the horrible tragedy that is the aftermath.  One is often left to wonder how such tyrants gain power in a civilized society.  This book provides a highly readable account of Hitler's rise to power through the use of the young.  Germany was suffering from economic hardship, high unemployment and a sense of national shame in a post World War I era.  The Hitler Youth provided the children and teens of Germany a sense of unity and National pride, and a feeling of hope for the future.  Many joined willingly, others from peer pressure, and some not at all.  Children brought Nazi ideals home to their parents; they expected them to be good German citizens and uphold the new ideals of the National socialist party.  Through their indoctrination and brainwashing, Hitler was able to control an entire generation.  Once in power, Hitler was able to enforce his own ideological and race ideals, while using the Hitler Youth to support his values.  A frightening account of the power of the young when influenced by evil.  However, not everyone highlighted in the book believed in the ideologies of the Hitler Youth, and some decided to fight back against the Nazi propaganda.  One such individual was Helmuth Hubener, who was eventually arrested and executed for distributing anti-Nazi literature.  He was only 17 years old.  You can read a fictionalized account of Hubener's incarceration in Bartoletti's "The Boy who Dared."  Bartoletti also recounts the struggle of the jewish young during this turbulent time and their quest for survival in a country rife with intolerance.  Hitler Youth is an absolutely fascinating read and appropriate for anyone studying history or the use of primary source documents and first-person interviews.  A Newbery Honour winner, this is one of the best accounts of World War II literature I have read.

Recommended Readers: Grade 9 and Up.  Good for Non-fiction study, first person interviews and historical research.  Would also be appropriate for history classrooms.

Themes: WWII, Youth, Indoctrination, Family, Citizenship, National Pride, Nazis, Belief systems, Power and Influence, Parents vs. Children, History, discrimination, Intolerance, Resistance.

Cross-Genre Links:
Movie: Apt Pupil (1998)
Movie: Swing Kids (1993)
Wikipedia Articles: Swing Kids, Edelweiss Pirates, or White Rose (Resistance Groups)
Music: It Don't Mean a Thing (If it ain't got that Swing) by Duke Ellington
Google Image Search: Nazi Youth Propaganda Posters

Related Reading:
Hitler Youth: Marching Toward Madness (Cat #: 293389)
Shattered Youth in Nazi Germany: Primary Sources from the Holocaust (Cat #:43074)
Children's War (Cat #: 5947)
The Wave (Cat #: 70611)
The Boy who Dared (Cat #: 24341)

Possible Discussion or Essay Topics: 
  • If you were a teenager living in Germany in 1939, would you have joined the Nazi Youth?
  • How do you think Hitler used the Nazi Youth?  What illustrates this?
  • Why did some people choose not to join the Hitler Youth?  Would this have been an easy decision?  What were some of the consequences?
  • Do you think it is right to involve children in war?
  • How does propaganda work?  What images today are targeted to children?
  • How does targeting children influence the family dynamic?

 Other Support Materials:
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow Teacher's Guide (Cat #: 381303)
Hitler Youth Teacher's Guide ebook (Cat #: 60000039)
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow Audio CD (Cat #: 421705)




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