Review: HITLER YOUTH by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. 2005. Hitler Youth. New York: Scholastic, Inc. ISBN 0439353793

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Imagine you are a young teenager in post World War I Germany. Poverty, unemployment, and suffering are all around you. All of a sudden, this dynamic leader promises a brighter future for you and your family if you will just join him in his endeavor to save your country. This was the situation many young people in Germany found themselves in during the 1930s and 1940s. They were unwittingly lured by the false promises of a fanatical tyrant.

Bartoletti tells the striking story of Germany’s young people, from how they were convinced to join the ranks of the Hitler Youth to the terrifying realities of the violent acts they carried out in the name of their organization. This book is appropriate mainly for middle school and high school students.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The book begins with pictures and brief biographies of some of the young people who are at the heart of the stories in the book. A foreword explaining the purpose of the book follows in which Bartoletti explains that this book is not about Adolph Hitler but instead focuses on the millions of children and teenagers who took up arms to defend and further his mission to build Germany up as a world power. Opposite the forward is one of the most disturbing photographs in the book in which a young boy who looks no older than five or six is dressed in a Storm Trooper uniform and holding his hand up in the Nazi salute. This is just one of many striking photographs included in the telling of these stories. In fact, one of the strengths of this book is the collection of black and white photographs arranged on the oversized, pale yellow pages.

The book also contains a table of contents and index to help readers access information about specific subjects that are covered in the text. The author also includes sources for each quote that is included in the book. The impressive bibliography cites over one hundred different sources. Another helpful resource included in the back of the book is the Time Line of the Hitler Youth. This is quite helpful since the stories in the book cover subjects which overlap each other in time sequence sometimes which could make it difficult to follow for readers who do not have background knowledge concerning these historical events.

Finally, in the Author’s Note, Bartoletti details the intense research she performed in order to write this book including visits to Germany to experience the sites firsthand and interviews of those who lived through the events.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL review: "Bartoletti lets many of the subjects' words, emotions, and deeds speak for themselves, bringing them together clearly to tell this story unlike anyone else has.”
BOOKLIST review: “The handsome book design… will draw in readers and help spark deep discussion, which will extend beyond the Holocaust curriculum.”

5. CONNECTIONS
Follow with an in-depth study and discussion of how young people can affect not only a country but an event as monumental as a World War.

Students can research some of the individuals whose stories are addressed in the book to develop a deeper understanding of their motivations.

Conduct a class debate as to how the members of the Hitler Youth should have been punished or if they should have been punished after the war had ended.