Hitler Youth

Bartoletti, S. (2005). Hitler Youth. NY: Scholastic. The Hitler Youth was a very informational book. The Hitler Youth was a group of male and female teenagers who were manipulated into believing that supporting Hitler was the patriotic thing to do for the better of Germany. Throughout the war, they were responsible for getting in fights with any other groups who did not agree with them, spreading propaganda friendly to Hitler, and later on even fighting to the death to defend Berlin. Although, most Hitler youth stayed loyal to Hitler, there were many heroes and heroines who realized Hitler was an evil man and they worked by spreading anti-Hitler leaflets throughout the war. In the end, many Hitler Youth grew up and realized later in life the atrocities they were linked to and spent their lives giving back to society. I believe one of the major strengths in Hitler Youth are the illustrations. The illustrations show the reader the human side of the holocaust and all the suffering. Furthermore, the illustrations are black and white and almost bring the reader back in time to the present situation. The intended audience seems to be geared more for high school. The book is about the Hitler Youth who were mainly recruited into the Hitler Youth from the ages of 15-17 years old. So, it makes sense that the intended audience would be to educate kids of the same age. Also, many of the details in the book are a little too graphic for children of a younger age. The most outstanding theme in Hitler Youth was how Hitler was able to initially manipulate the entire nation into getting him into power by using the Hitler Youth to campaign and spread propaganda for him. Then later on, once he attained full control over the government, keeping his power through torture, fear, and murder.