Eleanor H. Ayer

When World War II began in 1939, Alfons was 11 years old and a member of the Hitler Youth. Helen was a young Jewish wife and mother living in the Netherlands. Helen and her husband had fled to the Netherlands from Germany as the Nazis rose to power, mistakenly believing that they would be safe in the Netherlands. When the war ended, 16-year-old Alfons had risen in the ranks of the Hitler Youth to an unbelievable status for a teenager, while Helen was barely alive in a concentration camp. Years later, Alfons and Helen would partner to tell their stories in hopes of keeping history from repeating itself.

Award-winning author Ayer tells Alfons and Helen’s stories in much the same way the pair told them in their joint public appearances, chronologically through the war in alternating voices, a “parallel journey.” Both Alfons and Helen have published memoirs, and Ayer blends excerpts from these memoirs with additional context. The result is difficult to put down. I’ve read quite a few accounts of Holocaust survivors. This is the first insider account of the Hitler Youth movement that I’ve read. I don’t think I can summarize it any better than the words a German Luftwaffe major spoke to Alfons near the end of the war. Upon learning that Alfons was not yet seventeen, the officer said “What have we done to our children?”… (more)

This is a hard book to rate, so I think I am going to skip the rating and just review it.

This was a very accurate, real life, and therefore sometimes slightly gruesome account of a young boy in the Hitler Youth, and a Jewish girlwoman in her fight for her life, and the lives of her husband and daughter. It was very fascinating and made me want to keep reading. But at the same time, it was very hard to get through because of the sheer bleakness portrayed. WWII was not a happy time for many people in Europe, to put it mildly. The desperation and fear of these times for people like the Jews, and yet the exhilaration and thrilling excitement for followers of Hitler, particularly the Hitler Youth. It's just mind-blowing, really. Surprisingly, throughout most of the book, I felt a compassion and sympathy for Alfons. It is so sad that someone can be so brainwashed and blinded by the lies of the Enemy that they would blindly follow such a person as Hitler, and give their whole-hearted dedication to said person. And, of course, Helen's story also broke my heart.

I loved how the author included frequent snippets from both of the character's autobiographies. It lent a more personal aspect to the otherwise simple relaying of facts.

Not recommended for anyone under the age of 15 or for sensitive persons. I was in tears numerous times just at the numbers. It was a very good and well written account, but definitely not something I would read again!… (more)