Hitler's Children

by Guido Knopp

Book Overview

A title in Guido Knopp's series on Germany's Nazi past. "Hitler's Children" provides a comprehensive history of the young generation under Nazism, accompanied by much hitherto unpublished material and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0750937807
• ISBN13: 9780750937801
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: History Press (SC)
• Length: 291 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.2" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

It was all so 'normal' at the time...

This book shows how the Nazi State provided a veneer of normality to its militant racist indoctrination of German youth - and how it achieved it primarily by absorbing and 'coordinating' the groups and youth leadership already in place. The chilling aspect is that it all happened so quickly (within very few years of Hitler taking power) and with very little resistance from ordinary citizens. Knopp uses interviews with Germans who lived through those times to bring the story to life and to illustrate this themes: seduction, submission, bloodstock, war and sacrifice. It is this last which demonstrates how hollow was Hitler's vision for Germany's youth when many tens of thousands of children ended up being sent to a senseless death in the dying months and weeks of the Third Reich. If nothing else, this book highlights how easy it is to subvert the natural exhuberance and enthusiasm of youth to any end, even if it is self-destructive. Knopp's writing style is easy to read and I found myself drawn on to find out what happened to these children-turned under-age warriors in the final devastation of the Nazi empire.

"Unwelcome Indoctrination of Youth"

"Hitler's Children", Guido Knopp, UK, Sutton Pub., 2002 ISBN 0-7509-2732-1, HC, 284 pgs., & 6 pg. Index, 9 1/2" x 6 1/4". Formerly "Hitler's Kinder", Munich, auf Deutsche 2000, it is an arrant discourse on the education of German children of Nazi regimine. There are 30 excellent B/W photos plus 7 page Intro. which follows the education/educational systems for German youth growing up in the 1930's & 1940's. Details are provided in 5 provocatively titled chapters: - 1-Seduction, 2-Submission, 3-Bloodstock, 4-War, & 5-Sacrifice. A child, in 1936, at age 10 was seduced into Jungvolk (girls as Jungmaedel) & after training "graduated", earning sheath knife engraved "Meine Ehre heisst Treue" as official "Deutsches Jungvolk". Annually, new crops of ten-year-olds were dedicated to the Fueherer on his birthday, April 20th. At ages 14-18 lads joined Hitlerjugend (HJ) as Hitler Youths overseen by Baldur von Schurach, whilst girls entered Bund Deutscher Maeder (BDM), League of German Lasses. In 1937 Adolph Hitler Schools, under Robert Ley & Schurach, were devised along with special colleges, Ordensburgen. This book used more than 1000 interviews, & contains many quotations from populace living at the time. The methodology of applied propaganda was eerily assimilated by youth, moreso than parents, - it involved using simple Boy Scout tactics (hiking, camping & campfires, singing, chanting) & athletic competitions; pseudo-religious allegiances; instilling fear of hostile countries that pillaged, raped, etc.; & dangers of polluted blood lines (Jews, Gypsies, etc.) & attraction of uniforms, insignia, ribbons, flags, parades, marching bands & hierarchy of heroes. Allegiance was instilled to Fueherer, Volk & Vaterland (Leader - People - Nation) as national socialism along lines of "Father - Son - & Holy Ghost". Progressively, religion was replaced by nationalism (holidays, etc.). Teachings were three-fold at Hitler schools: 5 years spent on character building & racial philosophy, 2 years in military or labor services, & a few years in specialized teachings as administration, diplomacy, etc. Only the "fittest" were chosen & promoted, a pyramidal selection: - some were trained to command in the new German World Empire as military commanders or Gauleiter. Closure of WW2 saw progressive decimation of tens of thousands of German youths, ages 10 to 16, in the blitzkriegs & front lines ever worsening to the final days of Nazi defeat & Hitler's death on April 30, 1945 (suicide by cyanide & SIGSW to head). The book is somewhat choppy, has minor flaws instilled with translation, a few repititions & redundancies only apparent on careful reading. It is a good read, well indexed.