On Hitler's Mountain: Overcoming the Legacy of a Nazi Childhood

by Irmgard A. Hunt

Book Overview

Growing up in the beautiful mountains of Berchtesgaden -- just steps from Adolf Hitler's alpine retreat -- Irmgard Hunt had a seemingly happy, simple childhood. In her powerful, illuminating, and sometimes frightening memoir, Hunt recounts a youth lived under an evil but persuasive leader. As she grew older, the harsh reality of war -- and a few brave adults who opposed the Nazi regime -- aroused in her skepticism of National Socialist ideology...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060532181
• ISBN13: 9780060532185
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A Fascinating History

I've read a lot about personal histories in WW2, but nothing that so well explained the history of how people got from point A to point B. An honest, thorough, and well-written account of growing up in Germany that really is a must-read.

A must read!

This World War II book is unique because it's told from a child's viewpoint. The author was born in 1934 and her home was in the Bavarian mountain area of Berchtesgaden where Hitler had built Eagle's Nest, a fortified compound for him and his high-level commanders' families. The author describes the day-to-day life of the German people following their defeat in WWI and the pursuant inflation, job loss and depression. This story is interesting because I have visited the part of Germany Hunt discusses and saw the beauty of it and how isolated the Eagle's Nest was. The author has included some beautiful photos of that area, in addition to historical moments - like the GIs in her home town pulling down the Nazi flag. Her story tells us how much the Nazi doctrine governed what they ate, what they said and sang, what they named their children, and most of all, how they had to behave to stay out of terrible trouble. Teachers tried to get students to tell on their family members who might talk against Hitler. One aunt, when face to face with Hitler, found her arm rising in the Heil Hitler salute as if his stare hypnotized her - and years later, she shared that she was embarrassed to give in, but terrified not to. Hunt, an idyllic 3-year-old Aryan blonde child, was photographed on Hitler's lap. She went to school with Nazi official's children, and after the Nuremberg trials, realized that some of those children had just said good-bye to their father before he was executed. After the war, Hunt felt that patriotism (a word she came to hate) became the excuse for almost everything that had happened. The German people tended to whitewash what their Fuhrer did. The author brought war to our door, our eyes and our hearts. Armchair Interviews says that On Hitler's Mountain gives great historical viewpoint - but more important, a personal view of war, and a worthwhile reminder that it affects young and old alike.

Growing Up in the Shadow of The Eagle's Nest

You may have read numerous books on World War II, but Irmgard Hunt has written an account from her viewpoint of growing up in Nazi Germany in the town of Berchtesgaden. She describes conflicting opinions held by family members regarding Adolf Hitler and her confusion as to who and what to believe. Was he Germany's savior or a monster to be feared? School became something she hated due to pro Nazi teachers who indoctrinated the students and abused their authority with unnecessary corporal punishment. One of her classmates was the son of Albert Speer while another was the son of the executed Fritz Sauckel. Irmgard describes an experience of a fanatical pro Nazi teacher who insisted she get up in front of the class and state how proud she was that her father gave his life in the war for the Fuhrer. Another of her teacher's appeared to be a kindly woman who gently asked whether or not one of her relatives was supporting the Fuhrer. She hesitated in answering, but then lied that he doesn't talk about the situation. She later found her teacher was an informant for the Gestapo, and shuddered as to how close she had come to consigning him to a concentration camp. She also relates her uncomfortable experience of sitting on the knee of Hitler in addition to her fear of allied bombings and wondering how the Americans would treat her family members once they invaded Berchtesgaden. This book is told from the viewpoint of a child and the fears and conflicting thoughts she had regarding the war. The book also includes a picture of Hitler's Berghof after it was bombed along with a picture of the Eagle's Nest sitting on top one of the mountains. The author also speaks of her beginning to challenge her mother's beliefs. The war became tiresome and Irmgard realized she had been robbed of a significant part of her childhood. This book is a quick read, but whether you are a grizzled veteran of World War II books or a neophyte this is a book that gives you the war from a different viewpoint ( a child).

A remarkable memoir

On Hitler's Mountain is a beautifully-written, thought-provoking memoir of Nazi Germany from the perspective of a young blond German girl. Irmgard Hunt describes the everyday life of her childhood in a remarkably frank style. She resists any temptation to justify or editorialize her recounts of her joining the Nazi youth group or her parents support for Hitler. Her depictions of war-time poverty and the pressures from teachers and neighbors to conform don't seek to justify the behavior of her family and neighbors. Rather, they illuminate how one can be lured into thinking or acting in ways that are in retrospect so monstrously wrong. Like me, you may well finish this book in just three evenings and not stop to wonder how you would have behaved, either as a child or an adult, in Nazi Germany.

Life for ordinary Germans in Nazi Germany

Thanks to the work of historians, filmmakers, memoirists, and novelists, we have some ideas about what the big players in the Third Reich were like as well as the victims of the Holocaust. But what was it like to be an ordinary German during the 30s and 40s, when Hitler rose to power? Hunt's personal memoir provides us with a glimpse into the world of the ordinary, respectable German families who backed his reforms and regime, and then had to live through the consequences of World War II. She writes vividly of her childhood in Berchtesgaden, a town nestled in the German Alps where Hitler and many of his top lieutenants maintained their primary residences outside of Berlin. She draws portraits of the adults around her, and their attitudes towards Hitler-ranging from the slavish allegiance of a despised teacher, to the critical skepticism of her beloved grandfather. She ends with a reminder of how easily complacency and conformism can lead to the worst political regimes. Hunt's book is a great read, beautifully and elegantly written, honest and frank on topics which still make many Germans uncomfortable, with many photos of her childhood in Berchtesgaden and anecdotes and stories which make this period of her life, and of German history, come alive. Highly recommended! This would make a great addition to any high school or college European history course reading list.

Alice in Nightmare Land

Author Imgard Hunt from birth to the age of ll experienced the fears, tensions and dark glories of growing up almost literally on Hitler's lap, a stone's throw from his famous Eagles Nest in the Bavarian mountains. She was doddled on the dictator's knee when 5. She almost betrayed her socialist grandfather for his privately uttered anti-Hitler remarks when she was 9. She prowled the bombed out ruins of the Eagles Nest in early May of 1945 when she was ll. Her anecdotes and insights into the nightmare that was Hitler's Germany are doubly moving. They are fascinating in themselves. But additionally, they sparkle with the innocence of a child's feelings and perceptions, later enriched with the rueful reflections of the adult whom the child became. This is a wonderful tale, and a unique and powerful addition to any understanding of Germany under the Nazis. Can't recommend it more highly. - Rich Thomas