Nonfiction-+Hitler+Youth

//Hitler Youth// by Susan Campbell Bartoletti


The Holocaust—it is something most high school students cover in their history classes. The unthinkable and horrendous death camps, the Nazis' incredible brutality toward the Jewish, and Adolf Hitler's thirsty struggle to “purify” the German race are all topics that are discussed in these classes. Something that is hardly ever mentioned, however, is the presence of the Hitler Youth in Germany. The organization, founded and controlled by Hitler, made an impact on more than seven million youth in Germany. Bartoletti tells the history of the Hitler Youth in a unique and intriguing way—through the eyes of young people directly involved in these events—Alfons Heck, a young man who was lured into the group and later led a branch of Hitler Youth that totaled over 800 young men, the Scholl children who risked their well-being and lives passing out literature that denounced Hitler and his ideas, and many Jewish residents who were children at the times of these events. The lives, experiences, and narratives of these young men and women are carefully woven into the extensive research the author has done about the Hitler Youth and their rise to power.

//Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow// shows students the devastating affects prejudice can have on the world. Persecuted because of their religion, over 6 million Jewish people died as a result of the Holocaust. Bartoletti's pieces together the horrific stories of children who were enshrouded in prejudice their whole lives--by either bring the persecuted or the persecutors.

[|Susan Campbell Bartoletti] has written short stories, poems, novels and picture books for young readers. However, she is best known for her works of nonfiction for young people.

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