G4: Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bartoletti, Campbell. 2005. HITLER YOUTH: GROWING UP IN HITLER’S SHADOW. New York, Scholastic. ISBN: 0-439-353793-3.

This social history begins with the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and ends with Germany’s eventual surrender in 1945. However, as Baroletti notes at the beginning of her Foreword, “This book is not about Adolf Hitler” (7). Instead, it uses Hitler’s rule of Nazi Germany and his desire to reshape and dominate all sections of German society as a backdrop for the more individual histories of young Germans, those who either joined the Hitler Youth or somehow resisted the Nazis. The lives and actions of twelve young people comprise the bulk of the individual stories set against the history happening around them, although many other younger and older Germans appear as minor but equally important characters affected by that tumultuous, tragic period. To add power to this history, it also includes maps, a timeline, period photographs and an explanation of their sourcing, extensive end notes, a bibliography, an author letter about her inspiration and research methodology, and “before and after” synopses of the twelve main characters.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The reviewers seem mixed on the intended audience for this book. Two out of the three suggested at least a fifth grade level, while the other may have committed either a purposeful or accidental error by suggesting that five-year-old readers and older would benefit from this book. This book is too mature for a five year old. It is for students at least in fifth or sixth grade. This is a detailed, well-researched book for older readers able to process and contextualize information, while understanding on a deeper level what the implications of life in Germany were at that time.

To attain the level of accuracy required to ensure the success of this book, Bartoletti researched this exceptionally well. Her 115-item bibliography includes not only historical texts about the war, its major characters, and the Hitler Youth, but also letters, diaries, autobiographies, and oral communications with the survivors. Many of them are by the twelve young main characters of this book. As she explains in her Author’s Note, to find the “voice” (my quotations) of the people involved, she searched for them assiduously and used a variety of techniques and practices to hear and record their stories.

Having an extensive bibliography is important, but perhaps more important is how Bartoletti makes it digestible to her readers. She divides her sources into smaller categories (“About Herbert Norkus, Including Firsthand Accounts” is one of them), numbers them, and then refers to the numbers in her end notes. Most of her reference notes source conversations that are able to give a flavor of the period by people who lived at that time. Along these same lines, each two-page spread features photographs, many from family albums.

The text begins with the sad story of Herbert Norkus, who in his death became a rallying symbol for the Nazis in their attempts to mobilize young people to participate in the preparations for a reborn Germany. This story is a technique Bartoletti uses throughout the book in her prose and image selection to remind her readers that all of these world-shaking events affected individuals. Even as the story moves chronologically, her chapters begin with some anecdote about her young main characters and then move into what larger events were occurring outside of their lives. Adding to this movement from specific to general, the photograph on the left side of each opening spread complements the chapter title, which itself is part or whole of a quotation that surfaces later. A more descriptive subtitle appears beneath the quotation, further preparing the reader for the content. “A Nazi Education,” “Preparing for War,” and “The Holocaust Begins” are among these concise subtitles.

Just as the war moved from success to disillusionment to resistance to defeat and to soul-searching, so moves the content in this book. In the beginning of the book, Bartoletti builds the Hitler Youth as something of an unstoppable force, attracting teenagers with camping trips, war games, and motorcycles. Though some young Germans such as Sophie Scholl disagreed with the militarization, others like Elizabeth Vetter embraced it and even went so far as to have her parents arrested. As the book progresses, the author illustrates how the resistance began with compelling stories of White Rose and Helmuth Hübener. The final chapters describe how the war was ultimately lost. For those desiring a less wordy (and far less interesting) version of the events in the book, the timeline is thorough.

This 176-page book is published in a large format. The decision to do this was the correct one for two main reasons. First, a smaller format would have meant less visual appeal, and the photographs in this book are excellent. Second, the larger format allows for less text on each page and also affords the opportunity to connect at least two photographs and captions with the text. This combination of words and images brings life to the story and, with the use of short paragraphs, leads to a work easy to browse and accessible to all readers.

Bartoletti’s writing is clear, focused on the people and their context. She does not burden readers with facts except to illuminate the stories she wants to tell. As a result, she transports readers back to that time period and provides them with further avenues of study should they be interested. She does not try to say everything, just the important things. Readers will find themselves flipping back and forth between the character sketches, chapters and Epilogue to learn more about the people and their stories.

About the only weak part of the book, the one time when she moves away from telling the story, is its final paragraph. Here, she asks a question of her younger readers: “What are you willing to do to prevent such a shadow from falling over you and others?” Though it is easy to see her point, especially in light of what she has just written, it almost diminishes the rest of the book as a sort of morality play with the author as a teacher, rather than a social historian. Allowing the story, the Epilogue, and the items suggested in the bibliography to speak for themselves by eliminating the last paragraph would have been more effective. However, one misplaced paragraph or sentence should not detract from the importance and relevance of this social history to its young adult (and wider) audience.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
-- Bartoletti lets many of the subjects' words, emotions, and deeds speak for themselves, bringing them together clearly to tell this story unlike anyone else has. (SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, June 2005)
--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. (PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY, May 2005)
--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. (BOOKLIST, April 2005)
--This book offers through simple and powerful primary sources an important though tearful lesson in history, citizenship, and responsibility. (VOICE OF YOUTH ADVOCATES, August 2005)

Review excerpts from Books in Print

CONNECTIONS
--Social studies classes from grades 5 and up examining World War II or the Holocaust could use this as a basis for research, both with the material in this book and the items in the bibliography. Selected chapters could also be used to show how to enliven history by connecting it to its audience.
--Other selected histories by Susan Campbell Bartoletti:
THE BOY WHO DARED. 2008. ISBN: 978-0439680134
BLACK POTATOES: THE STORY OF THE GREAT IRISH FAMINE. 2005. ISBN: 978-0618548835
THEY CALLED THEMSELVES THE K.K.K.: THE BIRTH OF AN AMERICAN TERRORIST GROUP. 2010. ISBN: 978-0618440337
(There are others, too, that look to be worth reading.)
--Selected books on World War II recommended by the author for younger readers:
Dumbach, Annette and Jud Newborn. 1986. SHATTERING THE GERMAN NIGHT: THE STORY OF THE WHITE ROSE. ISBN: 978-0316604130
LEWIS, BRENDA RALPH. 2000. HITLER YOUTH: THE HITLERJUGEND IN WAR AND PEACE. ISBN: 978-0760309469
Scholl, Inge. 1983. THE WHITE ROSE: MUNICH, 1942-1943. 1983. ISBN: 978-0819560865
Vinke, Heermann. 1984. THE SHORT LIFE OF SOPHIE SCHOLL. ISBN: 978-0060263034