Module 4/Genre 4 - Non-Fiction

Bibliography
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. 2005. Hitler Youth growing up in Hitler's shadow. New York: Scholastic Nonfiction. ISBN 9780439353793

Plot Summary
In the powerful book, Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow, Susan Campbell Bartoletti has told the stories of different youngsters who were involved with the Hitlerjugend – Hitler Youth – and intertwines what was taking place during that time. The different perspectives start from before Hitler became Chancellor and ends with the fall of Nazi Germany and how that affected these same young people. World War II events are placed through out so known historical happenings help place what was going on in these youngsters’ lives. The book ends with an important epilogue that explains what happened to people who Bartoletti wrote about in this book. The author also gives a time line of the Hitler Youth from 1926 to 1945, a note about the photographs included in the book, and a note from the author.

Critical Analysis
Hitler Youth is an exceptional book that includes so much history and depicts well the complex lives and choices that young people in war-time Germany had to face. The stories are compelling and really beg the question of every reader, “What would I have done if I was in the same situation?” Bartoletti uses interviews, biographies, letters, diaries, and history books to create a book that really allows the reader to feel what it was like during those difficult years.

The book, although not attractive in the traditional sense, has a very provocative cover. Not only do the capitalized block letters "HITLER YOUTH" jump out at you, but there is a photo of a pre-teen centered on the cover standing the the grasp of what seems to be Adolf Hitler (his trademark mustache just visible in the upper right hand corner). The photographs throughout this book are well placed and are used to give the reader a picture of life in Nazi Germany. Seeing the children and teens in these photos at the beginning of the book and throughout helps remind the reader that they were just normal children who are just like us. The book is laid out well and tells the stories flow together. The historical pictures interspersed with candid photos help bring life to the book.

This book is definitely for older children, teens, and adults. The subject matter will provoke many discussions and opinions. This book’s subject could bridge to many other areas of learning and discussion.

Review Excerpts
BookList: “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.”
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books: "This well-contextualized narrative allows readers largely unfamiliar with the history to gain a solid understanding not only of Hitler and his legions of youth but of the deeper connections back to the first World War, the Treaty of Versailles, and the anti-Semitism of the nation, and the abundant details effectively function to broaden understanding rather than dragging the plotline down.”
The Horn Book: “…The power of the account is matched by the many period candid and propaganda photographs, well-married to the text by strong captions and placement…”
New York Times Book Review: “The real strength of Susan Campbell Bartoletti's handsome book, which is illustrated with documentary photographs, lies in its interviews with former members, as well as with Jews and Mischling (half-Jews) who were forbidden to join the ranks.”

Connections
Have students discuss the pressures that the German teenagers must have felt about having to join this group. Compare and contrast what that is like for those pressured to join gangs.

Follow up with reading The Diary of Anne Frank and have students discuss the different perspective that this story gives.

Have students visit the United States Holocaust Museum (http://www.ushmm.org/) and do an online scavenger hunt to find out different information that is presented on their web site. Also have them browse the online exhibits (http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/).