by Eleanor Ayer
(Aladdin Paperbacks)
Alternating chapters contrast the wartime experiences of two young Germans—Helen Waterford, who was interned in a Nazi concentration camp, and Alfons Heck, a member of the Hitler Youth. The volume is composed mainly of excerpts from their published autobiographies, connected by Ayer’s overall account of the era.
Related library videos:
Heil Hitler: Confessions of a Hitler Youth
Childhood Memories
Former Nazi youth member Alfons Heck reflects on coming to terms with Germany’s role and his own part in the Holocaust.
Alfons Heck recalls how he became a high-ranking member of the Hitler Youth. He talks about the importance of peer pressure and propaganda to Hitler's ability to recruit eight million German children to participate in the "war effort."
Discover the effects of the “Malicious Attacks” law, which criminalized dissent to the Nazi party, had on one German family and on German society as a whole.
Consider how conformity, obedience, and desire for belonging influenced the attitudes and values of youth in Nazi Germany.
