Hitler Youth: Growing Up In Hitler's Shadow

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Bibliography:

Bartoletti, S.C. (2005). HITLER YOUTH: GROWING UP IN HITLER’S SHADOW. New York: Scholastic. ISBN 0439353793

Summary:

Bartoletti offers an award winning historical account of a generation of young people that were affected by their devotion, and sometimes non-devotion, to Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich’s policies and propaganda.

Critical Analysis:

What happens when you’re starving and work is hard to come by, and then someone steps in and has an ideal that offers jobs, food, and an overall better place to live?  For your children, this person and their organization offer overnight camping trips, parades, and a place to just belong.  However, would you want your child to recite an oath, just to belong, such as this, “In the presence of this Blood Banner, which represents our Fuhrer, I swear to devote all energies and my strength to the Savior of our country, Adolf Hitler.  I am willing and ready to give up my life for him, so help me God.”?  That is exactly what the children of Germany recited in the 1930’s as they became members of the Hitler Youth.  For their devotion, they got Adolf Hitler, the Third Reich, and the Hitler Youth organization.  How did this happen?  Hitler targeted the youth of a nation, “I begin with the young...my magnificent youngsters!”  By reading Bartoletti’s accurate and unbiased telling, a reader learns of the depredations committed by Hitler and his cronies towards a country and its people, and just how children became Hitler Youth members and carried out the Third Reich policies and promoted its propaganda.  

Susan Campbell Bartoletti writes in a style of ease using first-hand accounts of the youth that were in "Hitler's shadow." In addition, she softens the content with the comforting background color of yellow and uses gray captions under pictures to contrast to the horrific time period in history that she addresses.  Organizationally, this book is set up in chronological order of how the Hitler Youth came to be, the actions of its members and protesters over time, and finally the repercussions of this time in history.  Bartoletti includes pictures that aren’t horrific to look at, but still offer the reader a true portrayal of what they are reading about.  She starts the reader off with a clear idea of who they are reading about by including the key young people's photos and a brief description of each person to read about before one ever gets into the meat of the story.  Furthermore, she includes an epilogue, timeline, author’s note, and information about the photographs at end of the book to give the reader a bit of additional information. Overall, this factual read offered a wealth of new knowledge, however it can be nightmare worthy for some readers.  Bartoletti can’t address this time in history without talking about Hitler’s euthanasia and extermination policies, therefore readers need to take that into consideration when reading her award winning work.

Awards:

2006 Newbery Honor

2006 Sibert Honor

2006 Parents Choice Award

Review Excerpts:

“...offers a unique and riveting perspective on WWII by focusing on the young people who followed Hitler…” - Publishers Weekly

“In her first full-length nonfiction title since winning the Robert F. Sibert Award, Susan Campbell Bartoletti explores the riveting and often chilling story of Germany's powerful Hitler Youth groups.” -Goodreads

“Superb.” -Kirkus Reviews

Connections:

-Read other works by Susan Campbell Bartoletti such as:

A Christmas Promise

Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine

Dancing with Dziadziu

Growing Up in Coal Country

Kids on Strike!

Nobody’s Diggier than a Dog

Nobody’s Nosier than a Cat

Silver at Night

The Boy Who Dared

The Flag Maker

They Called Themselves the KKK: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group

-Create a Book in a Bag Report:  Students find ten objects that represent this book and include them, along with a brief description of what it is and how it connects to the book, in a bag to present to the class.

-Create a PowerPoint or video depicting Bartoletti’s book

-Compare and contrast this book to a historical fiction book that addresses children affected by Adolf Hitler, such as,  The Book Thief by, Markus Zusak