Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

 

 

 

1.      Bibliography

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Hitler Youth: growing up in Hitlers shadow. New York: Scholastic Nonfiction, 2005. ISBN 0439353793

2.      Plot Summary

Hitler Youth tells the story of the young people who were either brainwashed by the Nazi regime or resisted the Nazi movement.  It gives the back-story of the youth group and how it was built to be the back bone of a movement for the fascist regime.  It is a historical, non-fiction, chilling account of the passionate, energetic children who were indoctrinated to do the bidding of the Nazis.  The story is told through the eyes of those children who were actually there, who lived it.  Each one is tracked through their experience to include how they got involved, how they were controlled and what became of them.  Both sides of the story are told; those that were brainwashed and did what they were told and those that resisted and suffered major consequences for their opposition.

3.      Critical Analysis

The author did a great deal of research to ensure to depict an accurate representation from both sides.  She spent years and has many credible sources.  She takes time to try to avoid any stereotypes and be factual in telling the story.  The telling of the youth’s story makes you feel sympathy for them because you know they were brainwashed and manipulated into doing what they were told to such an extreme that they would rat out their own families.  However, I take issue with any medium that tries to explain or rationalize the reasons people oppress and destroy others.

The book is laid out well with each chapter rotating between stories of those children who were indoctrinated and those that resisted.  It mostly follows along historically so the fascism and programming builds.  The photographs lend to the telling and the appendixes add to the information.  They include an epilogue of each child, a timeline of the Hitler Youth program and the Nazi’s rise to power.

4.      Review Excerpts

Newbery Honor medal 2006

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal 2006
Horn Book Fanfare Award 2005
American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults 2006
American Library Association Notable Children's Book
National Council for Social Studies Notable Social Studies Trade Book
National Council for Teachers of English Orbis Pictus Honor
American Library Association Sibert Informational Book Honor 2006

From the Booklist: Starred Review.  “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.”

From The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books: Starred Review. "This solid offering deserves wide readership by today's young people, and it is certain to promote extensive discussion."

From Horn Book: Starred Review. "With clarity and apt quotation, 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."

From Kirkus Review: Starred Review. "Case studies of actual participants root the work in specifics, and clear prose, thorough documentation and an attractive format with well-chosen archival photographs make this nonfiction writing at its best….Superb."

From Publishers Weekly: Starred Review. "Bartoletti's portrait of individuals within the Hitler Youth who failed to realize that they served “a mass murderer” is convincing, and while it does not excuse the atrocities, it certainly will allow readers to comprehend the circumstances that led to the formation of Hitler's youngest zealots."

From the School Library Journal: Starred Review. Bartoletti “summarizes the weighty significance of this part of the 20th century and challenges young readers to prevent history from repeating itself.”

5.      Connections

Gather and read other books by Susan Campbell Bartoletti such as:

      They Called Themselves the KKK: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group. ISBN 0544225821
      Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850. ISBN 0618548831
      Kids on Strike! ISBN 0618369236
      Growing Up in Coal Country. ISBN 0395979145

Combine with a historical fiction book by Bartoletti which takes a closer look at one of the young men in this book: The Boy Who Dared, ISBN 9780439680134

Gather and read other books that deal with children during WWII and the Holocaust such as:

     Frank, Anne. The Diary of a Young Girl. ISBN 9780553296983
     Boyne, John. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.  ISBN 0385751532
     Lowry, Lois. Number the Stars. ISBN 0547577095
     Yolen, Jane. The Devil's Arithmetic. ISBN 0142401099
     Zusak, Markus.  The Book Thief. ISBN 0375842209

Use during a history lesson about WWII.

Use during a unit to discuss fitting in, growing up or patriotism.