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Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow
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Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow
Unavailable
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow
Audiobook4 hours

Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

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About this audiobook

On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany, thanks largely to the efforts of the Hitler Youth, whose organized propaganda marches throughout Germany helped the Nazi Party grow in strength. By 1939, it is estimated that more than seven million boys and girls belonged to the Hitler Youth.

Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow is the riveting and often chilling tale of a generation of young people who devoted their energy and passion to the Hitler Youth organization and left an indelible mark on world history. Award-winning author Susan Campbell Bartoletti infuses the work with the voices of both former Hitler Youth members and young people who resisted the powerful Nazi movement. These voices stand alongside those of Jewish youths and others who were senselessly and brutally targeted by the Third Reich. What emerges is the story of average children and teenagers faced with extraordinary and unenviable choices. The paths taken by the Hitler Youth and their struggle to come to terms with their actions at the end of World War II are sure to spark debate among young readers faced with the question of whether the horrors of Hitler's Germany could ever cast dark shadows again.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 24, 2006
ISBN9780739336632
Unavailable
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow
Author

Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Susan Campbell Bartoletti is the acclaimed author of many award-winning nonfiction books, including the Newbery Honor winner Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow, the Sibert Medal winner Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, and Terrible Typhoid Mary: A True Story of the Deadliest Cook in America. Susan makes her home in Pennsylvania. Visit her online at www.scbartoletti.com.

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Reviews for Hitler Youth

Rating: 4.253936614173228 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Seems like a perfectly good history book for kids. The illustrations really work to make the subject more immediately graspable for children.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book is a product of Bartoletti's extensive two year research of former members of the Hitler Youth and Jewish people during the time of the Third Reich. She conducted interviews in person, through letters, e-mails, and phone calls. Bartoletti also spent numerous hours reading diaries and letters of personal histories. This book is Bartoletti's attempt to "make sense" out of the 12 year devastating period of history. "Stories connect us, teach us, and warn us never to forget." These stories "turn the heart over."My basic knowledge has been greatly expanded by facts regarding the role of the youth in WWII. Bartoletti focuses on 12 individual youths that had some sort of experience with or in the Hitler Youth. This group is a well-rounded representation of the youths' emotions and actions in the 12 years of horror. Even though Bartoletti focuses on the 12, she also provides ample details that help understand how it all happened.I listened to this book and have just become aware that there are fantastic black and white photos throughout the book version. I need to get my hands on it - asap. (4.5/5)Originally posted on: "Thoughts of Joy..."
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A brief history of the Hitler Youth building up to, through, and after WWII. A horrifying subject at any time, but made even more terrifying for its similarities to what's happening now in this country.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book covers a subject that it's really spoken about: the young men and women under Nazi rule who believed in, fought for, and often died, for their Fuhrer. Well-researched and well-written, Bartoletti helps the reader understand the role these children played in the War. She brings to light a side of the war most people have no idea about. This is vital to a complete understanding of Hitler and what he did. She makes no judgement calls about the children, but explains in appropriate prose the history of their experience. How many started out in Hitler's Youth, a scout-type program, and how it progressed until many, mostly the boys, ended up on the front lines near the end of the war. She shows how the propaganda Hitler spewed captured the hearts of these children, and they proudly served him, only later understanding that he used them for his own ends. I highly recommend this book be part of any school library - home or public - and it's worth reading.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a very well-written and researched book about growing up as a German under Hitler. Bartoletti described how the Hitler Youth began almost as a "scout troup" that all youths wanted to join, including Jewish youths. Then she described how Hitler used the youths and laws to force parents to bend to his will. The personal stories and accounts made this story worth reading. You definitely felt how some of these children were brainwashed and felt trapped by the world around him. There were also wonderful stories of bravery by youths who would not agree with the Hitler Youth doctrine and gave their lives to rebel against it. A very emotional and touching book that gave both sides of the story.  "

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I could have done without the introductory cast of characters - it wasted a lot of time. It would have been much better to meet them organically within their own stories, but whatever. It was a fascinating, oft-overlooked bit about the Holocaust and Second World War and I'd love to learn more about the Hitler Youth.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    These are the true-life stories of a number of young people who grew up in Nazi Germany, some who supported Hitler and some who opposed him. It provides the reading with wonderful insights at to how and why Hitler came to power as well as how he maintained control over the German people, especially the young.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A balanced and insightful look at the shameful exploitation of a nations youth. Eerie parallels abound with the current American political environment and the presidents cult of personality, his constant appeals to the youngest voters, his unflagging attempts to undermine all forms of education not supervised by the state and the propaganda calls for 'volunteerism' and 'service years' controlled by the government.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I just loved it the voice was wonderful.... I could understand easily.... thanks I got lot of ideas.....

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Fascinating and absorbing book about the youth of Germany who got involved with the Nazi Party and those who rebelled against it. Follows 12 youths in particular. Author does a great job of not condemming the party outright but laying out its original intentions and allowing the reader to understand why kids and teenagers would get passionately involved with the Nazi organizations. Later we see the party getting darker and darker and yet many people remain involved with the party or indifferent to the loss of civil rights.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Great pictures and recount of historical events leading up to WWII. I would use this book as a paired text activity in middle school grades with The Boy Who Dared.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Susan Campbell Bartoletti explores the riveting and often chilling story of Germany's powerful Hitler Youth groups."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, Nuremberg 1933By the time Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, 3.5 million children belonged to the Hitler Youth. It would become the largest youth group in history. Susan Campbell Bartoletti explores how Hitler gained the loyalty, trust, and passion of so many of Germany's young people. Her research includes telling interviews with surviving Hitler Youth members.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I chose to peruse "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" because I was looking for a book that would investigate the theme of growing up too fast. This book is valuable towards this end. The story details the entire Hitler Youth structure and how this structure contributed to the Nazi War Machine. The story takes an interesting twist, one that further inspires Susan Campbell Bartoletti's novel "The Boy Who Dared." The same organizational structure that helped the war machine was used to resist the Nazi's as well. The story of the White Rose and Hans Scholl is a refreshing tale within this otherwise disturbing historical situation. The stories of the countless German youths resisting the Gestapo and the Nazi party is a refreshing twist to this story. The two chapters detailing these stories could certainly be read on their own. This story contains sufficient historical context that it could be used on its own to teach the World War II, the Holocaust, and the Nazis. The book contains great documentation, supplemental resources, bibliographical tools, glossaries, and other features to facilitate understanding. I was thoroughly impressed with this book and will certainly use or have it in my classroom, along with "The Boy Who Dared," to allow students to explore this period of history through comparing and contrasting activities.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This nonfiction chapter book provides an intense look into life as a young person in Nazi Germany, complementing the content of standard history textbooks on this era. Readers will learn about the Hitler Youth organization and its influence on young people. What began as a voluntary activity transformed into a mandatory organization that emphasized blind adherence to Hitler and the Nazi regime. For librarians and educators looking to diversify their WWII collection, this book will add a new perspective into what life was like during that time. The subject matter is, of course, quite disturbing. Readers will benefit from having context and support through discussions and lessons while reading this book. It is definitely not an introductory text to this topic, but it is well-researched and has received many awards for its approach to the topic.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    As a young person, I was extremely interested in the Holocaust. I had a hard time believing that something like this had happened, and loved reading more and more on the subject. I really wish that I had had this book back then! This book tells a completely different perspective than what one is used to hearing when they study the Holocaust, and it was very eye-opening. I liked Bartoletti's design for this book particularly, and the way she separated the different chapters. I think that using this book in the classroom would be excellent for anyone who is teaching about the Holocaust, as it provides a much different and very important perspective than what is typically shared.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Voya: As far as I can tell, there's no defect with the print version of this book, but the audiobook version was stiffly read and with the pictures and captions missing from the book, something in the layout was definitely lost. It gets a 2Q, the only benefit being the German pronouciation of the characters' names. However, the subject of teens under Hitler's regime and the choices they had to make is pretty interesting, and I think I could get most teens interested in this book. “What I want most of all is that you live in uprightness and freedom of spirit, no matter how difficult that may be." Robert SchollMy Review:I regrettably listened to the audiobook on this one, which is very robotic and stilted. Upon examining the book, I found that the pictures and format helped me keep all the teens straight, especially since to me, an American, many of their names were unpronouncable. Fascinating history about the 12 years Hitler was in power and the children who grew up under his regime, who learned to question nothing about national socialism and to obey their Hitler Youth leaders (often only a year older) over their teachers and parents. Teens who, on purpose or on accident, had their own parents and neighbors killed. Teens who stood up against Hitler and went to the guillotine bravely, and teens who operated tanks or worked concentration camps in willful ignorance. Interesting how youth were deliberatley used by Hitler strategically.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    As someone who grew up when World War II was recent news rather than ancient history, who has lived in Germany, and has read quite a lot on World War II, Naziism and the Holocaust, I came to this book not expecting to learn much that was new. I read it as part of a scheme to read all the Newbery Award winners and honor books. Nine times out of ten, the Newbery Awards and Honors go to fiction, so I was also interested to see what kind of non-fiction was thought deserving of this honor.

    [author: Susan Campbell Bartoletti] uses the lens of the children and adolescents of Hitler's Germany to tell the story of the rise and fall of Naziism and the war in Europe. The book is far more than a history of the Hitler Youth (HitlerJugend); it also tells stories of Jewish youth and their experiences, and of the various youth resistance movements, especially the White Rose. As the war went on, many Hitler Youth went into the German armed forces (even at very young ages), and these stories are told as well.

    Through interviews with those still living, letters, diaries, and memoirs, and with the use of photographs from German and Allied archives, Bartoletti gives a complete picture of life under Hitler for children and young people. It would be an excellent book for kids who have read fictional works about this period and would like to know more of the facts. And if my experience is any guide, adults can learn a lot from it too. Very highly recommended.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Summary: This book tells the historical story of the German children who fell under the Nazi regime during World War II and the events that surrounded them. Genre: Historical Fiction/NCTE Orbis Pictus AwardPersonal Reflection: Wow, this book is heavy because the subject is even heavier. It's very interesting, though, to learn some new things about the Nazi regime during WWII. I remember being taught about hitler as a young student, but we never covered these kinds of stories. I think a young student today could really connect with the situation of a kid during WWII time and see how they fell prey to doingand supporting awful things. Concept: This book is for an older audience, maybe as young a middle school. This book is very factual but also gut-wrenching with it's personal stories. It could show kids that no matter what, you should always do what you think is right.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A fantastic book discussing the power of youth in a war. I can't help but feel the betrayal of parents by a son or daughter. A lot of primary sources and a great treatment of what young people can do if they put their minds to it, whether for good or bad.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Hitler Youth is a haunting look at Hitler's young followers in Germany under the Third Reich. These are stories you don't normally hear and Bartoletti usesnarrative, facts, and photographs to effectively tell the story of Germany's youth, and how their childhood was robbed by Hitler. Much of the book focuses on the children and how they were placed deeper within the Third Reich under a series of events and control by the Nazis. While fascinating, it's disturbing to see what happens when one man has absolute control, and we stop thinking for ourselves. One redeeming quality is that it humanizes the children who lost their childhoods. Yet it still puts the spotlight on one of the darkest part of world history.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Hitler Youth: Growing up in Hitler’s Shadow was written by Susan Campbell Bartoletti and is a non-fiction historical book about the events of World War II. I found this book very eye opening. It was amazing to me just how many young boys and girls he drew in to become followers. This book would be really good for any social studies class and would also work well with different English classes when dealing with stories on World War II. I would recommend this book for any social studies class in the young adolescent age group.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This nonfiction book details the lives of the children who grew up in Germany under Adolf Hitler's rule, specifically those who were severely influenced by his speech and methods, to the point that they were followers of him. The book is not about Hitler, however, it is specifically written about the lives of these children and how they fell prey to him. It is a disturbing story, but one that needs to be told, not only to show people how easily some can fall under the influence of a dictator, but to show that those who did were not monsters; the children whose lives are detailed in this book were normal German citizens and it just shows how easily this could happen to any group of people. The critical perspective it puts on the view of all Nazis, and Germans under Nazi reign, as monsters is fascinating.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti is a historical non-fiction book about the happenings during World War II. This is the story about how Hitler had the children and youth of Germany influenced under Nazism. The book looks at how the non-Jewish families were effected by Hitler's power. This book contains shocking confessions of this time in History. I think this book can be used in History during the time when the class is studying WWII.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow was written by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, and it is a historical non-fiction about events during World War II. This book allows its readers to see how Hitler brainwashed his followers but most of all the young boys and girls. One thing that this book does is it focuses on the non-Jewish families that were effected during Hitler's reign of terror. This book would be great for a social studies class while studying WWII and the Holocaust, but it can also have its place in an English class because teachers can use it to compare it with other non-fiction books about the Holocaust and WWII or books written about child soldiers such as A Long Way Gone. I would recommend this book for grades 8th - 12th and for anyone that would like to read more about WWII.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    With photographs from the era and stories of regular children in Nazi Germany, this book is very informative in educating about what regular kids had to experience during that ugly period in history.In the classroom, this is a great WWII history book. It gives students a few more perspectives on what was going on, educating them of the fact that any historical event or period has more than one or two sides.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book is an excellent look at the effects of Nazism in Germany on the children and youth of the country. It was exceptionally disturbing to read accounts of children reporting on their parents for not being supportive of Hitler. In contrast to those who joined the Hitler youth, the young people who took a stand against against him and were executed for their bravery was gut wrenching. Reading about the Scholl siblings who were turned in by their university janitor, or the 14 year old boy who was beheaded for distributing anti-nazi fliers spoke of the degree of evil that had permeated the German culture. Through images, text, and recollections of those who lived it, Bartoletti's book is overwhelming and informative.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A fascinating account of specific members of the Hitler Youth as well as the overall story of the movement itself. This book would be perfect for showing the human face of Hitler's world to students of today. Members of the HY were the living embodiment of the success of Nazi propaganda among its own people at the time and theirs is a lesson that should not be lost on any one of us, especially students of modern history.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This book presents a look at the Holocaust through the eyes of, not just young people, but the young people involved with the Nazis. A bibliography, organized by person or topic to make information of interest easy to find, includes icons to point out books for young readers. There is also a section about the photos, including why they were taken and where to find more, and an author’s note about the motivation and journey behind the book. An epilogue telling what became of the youth in the book is especially of interest. The topic and extensive back matter alone would make the book worthwhile…if it weren’t such a disappointment. For one thing, it’s very dry. More personal stories would have been an improvement, as well as a focus on more familiar areas. Does the author really need multiple pages about the strict exercise regime? There is also little order, with the book shifting quickly between points of view and topics, making it difficult to follow. Further, it can be a rather dark read for children—the euthanization of babies is mentioned in detail, as well as parents being taken from their children and murdered. As an adult book it would be of more value due to its unique perspective, but as a children’s book, it’s questionable.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a well done history book on a fascinating subject. The book tells about WWII, before, during and after. It looks at Hitler's rise to power, the state of Germany, the pre-war preparations, the war and holocaust, and the outcome of the war and for the Hitler youth. The book uses lots of photos and personal sources, such as diary entries. It looks at different peoples lives and how they were affected by these events.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    "Hitler Youth" is a chilling look at the Hitler's young followers in Germany under the Third Reich. Bartoletti uses a combination of narrative, facts, and historical photographs to tell the story of Germany's youth, and how they lost their childhoods under the leadership and coercion of Der Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler. Bartoletti begins by explaining this is not a book about Hitler; it is meant to tell the story of a generation of German children who were part of one of history's darkest hours. The book then goes on to tell of the murder of Herbert Norkus, a young Hitler Youth who was murdered by a gang of "reds" after pleading to be let into several homes and businesses. Bartoletti explains how this event served to rally the young people around a single purpose, and a single martyr, allowing Hitler to gain greater control over his young charges. The book is a fascinating, terrifying look at what happens when one man has absolute control, and when we stop teaching children to think for themselves. It also highlights, however, those children who did. Woven throughout the story of the Hitler Youth is that of Sophie Scholl and her siblings; Sophie was executed for defying the blind subservience that Hitler Youth were supposed to embody. The book takes a look at a part of Nazi history that is not often discussed -- the children who were part of the movement. While it is terrifying and eye-opening in many ways, it is also striking for its sensitivity. It humanizes these children who lost their childhoods. In doing so, it highlights the most terrifying part of this period in history -- the fact that the Nazi party was made of, in it's lower ranks and in its youth -- normal people who became swept up in a wave that was too powerful to stop, and said nothing. This book is highly recommended for middle and high school collections, or children in grades 8-12.