Often reading the summary on the back cover of this novel is a good indication of whether or not you will enjoy the book because this book caught my attention. The front cover shows Adolf Hitler with thousands of his young supporter’s praising him during World War Two. Books about the war usually interest me so usually I would read them, but this book appealed to me because of the faces of two teens on the front cover which was like no other war book I have seen. When I first started reading this book I instantly noticed how different it was to some of the other novels I have read in the past. Firstly, it is very creepy to realize that while this is in the form of a novel. It isn’t based on a true story, it is a true story. The Second World War took the lives of fifteen million warriors around the world, thirty nine million innocents and 12 million Jewish people. These numbers shock me when I remember that the population of Austria today is around 20 million, so this means that over three times the population of Austria died in this sad period from 1939 to 1945. The First chapter of the book introduces us to Alfon’s Heck, a nine year old German boy who grew up in the Rhineland region of Germany or near France. Alfon’s never knew a Germany without Nazi control. In schools they were taught by Nazis and never did they question what they were taught because consequnces would happen. Alfons was taught to hate Jewish people, communists,
The Plot to Kill Hitler by Patricia McCormick is a book about Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his life story as he faces troubles in life and has to go to war when he is a Pacifist!
Recalling his devoted years to the Hitler Youth program, author Alfons Heck states “I have never once during the Hitler years thought of myself as anything but a decent, honorable young German, blessed with a glorious future” (206). This honesty conveyed by Heck elucidates the selfish ideals of those in the Hitler Youth, a theme apparent in the novel A Child of Hitler. Although Heck’s thoughts are self-conceited, they convey the opinions of those decieved by the Hitler Youth principles. As politically incorrect as these principles were, A Child of Hitler portrays them differently than other literature reporting on the subject. Through his descriptions of daily activities, Heck describes the pressure that children faced as Hitler Youth.
Good morning… Hitler’s Daughter is a good novel for teenagers because it deals with important issues in an interesting way through its dual narrative.
The powerful and gripping novel The Boy Who Dared, written by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, is a Newbery Honor book. The novel is based on Helmuth Hubener who lived during the Holocaust when the Nazis were rising to power in 1933. Helmuth was one of the very few young boys who tried to expose Hitler to the people of Germany. Hitler was torturing the Jews and declaring wars on countries just because he wanted war. He also ruined Jewish shops and destroyed their futures. The Boy Who Dared shows historical accuracy in many ways, especially as it focuses on Helmuth’s life, the
In Elie Wiesel’s Night, he recounts his horrifying experiences as a Jewish boy under Nazi control. His words are strong and his message clear. Wiesel uses themes such as hunger and death to vividly display his days during World War II. Wiesel’s main purpose is to describe to the reader the horrifying scenes and feelings he suffered through as a repressed Jew. His tone and diction are powerful for this subject and envelope the reader. Young readers today find the actions of Nazis almost unimaginable. This book more than sufficiently portrays the era in the words of a victim himself.
This novel I would recommend to any person who just doesn't really like to read a plain simple book, the book is a comic based on a true story during the holocaust and it's amazing. The comic lines are creative for some how it was made in mice instead of humans and it show a symbol of how Jew's where less than the Germans who were cats and just a whole different perspective and it's
Literature is the foundation of our beliefs, cultures and traditions. It is why as human beings we thrive in the world, learning from the past through stories and illustrations that create emotion, desire and inspiration. It was literature that started Adolf Hitler’s reign, through the simplicity of words. When World War 2 began, literature was a basis of hope, it would encompass emotion and for many their last mark on the world. Little Polish Boy, (1969), written by Peter Fischl, a survivor of the Holocaust, explores the war through a child’s perception. The poem highlights the naïve nature of children, witnessing an act of inhumane proportions, their voices suddenly neglected and powerless. In comparison, the Boy in The Striped Pyjamas, a novel written by John Boyne in 2006 demonstrates children’s willingness to defy an ingrained war culture due to the naivety of their actions and understanding.
Larson, Erik. In the garden of beasts: love, terror, and an American family in Hitlers Berlin. 375 pages. New York: Crown Publishing Group, 2011.
The central idea of this book is a little girl and her struggle in concentration camps the author shows this by “ tomorrow is deportation”( Leitner 3) . This happened on May 28, 1944 where she started her journey in the camps. She explains her feelings and fairs of them too and how she's not ready to leave this place called home because she was living in hungary and she ends up having to move away. Something else that is showing Isabella’s struggle is ”Every since childhood,I remember them with terror in my heart.” (Isabella Leitner 5). In this quote she is talking about the people that heard them like cattle and stuff. This was also the people that would kill them and make them do horrible things.These were the people that didn't make them feel like people. “75 to a car... no toilets... no doctors ... no medication”( Leitner 7) Isabella is talking about how they were moved place to place in these little cattle cars and how horrible the conditions normally where. Imagine being shoved in
World War II is an important key point in history that addresses to young adolescents. The novel, T4 is based on a true story, in which the author, Ann Clare LeZotte is portraying a novel that is based on the theme of survival. It appears to be that the author’s argument in writing this novel is to simply maintain awareness of the past. Generally speaking, a story about survival is a difficult genre for young readers, “The majority of war stories for children are about World War II and the Holocaust.” (Huck 482) The reason war stories are mainly about World War II and the Holocaust is because it was the most recent, largest, and horrifying war during the twentieth century in Europe. Our textbook also states that these historical novels help children experience the past. Meaning, that it is important for a child to learn about the past including all the wars, conflicts, sufferings, and great happiness that had occurred so they can apply that to the present and to the future.
When Germany invaded Holland during the beginning of World War II, the Jews were the German soldiers and Adolf Hitler’s main targets. Jews were required to wear a yellow star on their shirt, and if they walked around town during the day, they risked being taken into captivity by the German soldiers. This, among other racism against
Words, something we blindly hear, listen and feel. Humans do not think twice of the harm or good doing power they possess. In the novel, The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, shows how words can give the characters such robustness during the war. As well as how strong they use their words so they can get out of difficult situations. Adolf Hitler, Max Vandenburg, and Liesel Meminger are characters that hold power throughout the novel in both positive and negative ways.
The novel German Boy by Wolfgang Samuel is about his life as a boy from Germany. The book takes place during World War II. Wolfgang goes through this tragic time era with his mother and his sister Ingrid. He is not able to live a normal life of a child such as other children in the world. The characters, settings, and themes make this novel the success it is today because it helps the reader to know what it was like to live during WWII. Wolfgang’s development and experiences further the reader's interest. Going to Berlin and Strasburg from Wolfgang’s hometown Sagan added to the struggles that he faced with moving from place to place to seek safety. Family will always be there to help and no one is safe from war is what Wolfgang learns with his experiences living in this time period.
In the beginning of the book Alfons explains how he was indoctrinated in all aspects of the Nazi regime, which is a common theme throughout the reading. He especially points this out when he was sworn into the Jungvolk, and the Nazi creed read: “belief in the innate superiority of the Germanic-Nordic race, and the conviction that total submission to the welfare of the state—personified by the Führer—was my first duty.” Heck uses the idea of indoctrination throughout the book to not necessarily excuse his wrongdoings, but to remind readers to understand his point of view. This effectively presents an option for readers to judge him however they please. The child soldiers are still culpable for their devotion, but to truly understand their decisions
It pays a great deal of attention to what was going on outside the bunker and provides fascinating accounts of what was happening to other Nazi leaders, such as Himmler, Goering, Speer, Doenitz, and many others. It also does an excellent job of placing Hitler's last days within the fuller context of both Nazi and 20th-century German history.