Daniel Half Human: And the Good Nazi (Richard Jackson Books (Atheneum Hardcover)) [Hardcover]

David Chotjewitz (Author), Doris Orgel (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Richard Jackson Books (Atheneum Hardcover) | Publication Date: October 12, 2004

In 1933, best friends Daniel and Armin admire Hitler, but as anti-Semitism buoys Hitler to power, Daniel learns he is half Jewish, threatening the friendship even as life in their beloved Hamburg, Germany, is becoming nightmarish. Also details Daniel andArmin's reunion in 1945 in interspersed chapte

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up–In June 1945, a U.S. soldier working as an interpreter for the Royal British Army visits the ruins of his childhood neighborhood in Hamburg and reflects on the events that changed his life forever. In 1933, 13-year-old Daniel, the well-to-do son of a prominent lawyer, and his working-class best friend, Armin, are wildly enthusiastic about the Nazis' rise to power. Both boys are eager to join the Hitler Youth, despite their parents' opposition. Daniel is horrified when his parents reveal that his mother is Jewish. He is furious with her for being Jewish, with his father for marrying "that Jewess," and with himself for being someone considered only half human according to the Aryan doctrine. While Daniel's father insists his status as a decorated World War I hero will protect his family, his mother urges her husband to emigrate. Armin, torn between loyalty to his best friend and pressure from Nazi leadership to sever his ties with Daniel, does his best to warn him of approaching danger. The author skillfully alternates between the protagonist's brief, first-person descriptions of his return to Germany and lengthier, third-person narratives of his life before Kristallnacht, the turning point that convinced his father to flee his homeland at last. The book's intense final scene is a fitting culmination to its exploration of the choice between official duty and loyalty to one's friends. Realizing the consequences of that choice makes a dramatic ending. Orgel's translation reads smoothly and movingly. An outstanding addition to the large body of World War II/Holocaust fiction.–Ginny Gustin, Sonoma County Library System, Santa Rosa, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 7-12. In Hamburg, Germany, in the 1930s, Daniel enjoys being part of the Hitler Youth until he discovers his mother is Jewish and he is thrown out of his elite school. He still has fun with his best friend, Armin, who falls in love with Daniel's Jewish cousin; but tension mounts, racism is rampant, and Armin begins to stay away, though he takes risks and warns his friend to hide. Daniel's return to Hamburg in 1945 as interpreter for the Allies frames the novel, which switches among the viewpoints of too many characters, including Daniel's parents, who fight about whether to leave the country. But the detailed history woven into the fiction (including the effect of Germany's defeat in World War I, Hitler's rise, and the violence of Kristallnacht) helps make this clearly translated novel an important title for the Holocaust curriculum, especially given the friendship drama that keeps raising ethical questions to the very last page. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books; Tra edition (October 12, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689857470
• ISBN-13: 978-0689857478
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #503,962 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Richie's Picks: DANIEL HALF HUMAN AND THE GOOD NAZI, October 28, 2004

By 

Richie Partington "Richie's Picks" (Sebastopol, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Daniel Half Human: And the Good Nazi (Richard Jackson Books (Atheneum Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

DANIEL HALF HUMAN AND THE GOOD NAZI by David Chotjewitz, translated by Doris Orgel, Simon & Schuster/Atheneum/Richard Jackson, October 2004, ISBN: 0-689-85747-0

"It's interesting: On the street you know right away who's Jewish. I don't mean the Orthodox with their hats and curled sideburns. I mean the ones in normal clothes. I recognize them by how they walk. The Jews always stay close to the building walls. Or near the gutter. Even though it isn't written anywhere that they should. And they always look down. As though they are looking for something on the ground. And there's always this embarrassed smile. As if they wanted to beg pardon for something. No Germans walk in that crept-inside-themselves way."
--Daniel's cousin Miriam, writing a letter in 1935.

Two young friends in Hamburg, Germany become blood brothers while spending a night in jail. They've been caught painting swastikas in the Communist sector of town in 1933, shortly before the rise of Adolf Hitler. Daniel, the son of a wealthy attorney, and Armin, a poor scholarship student, attend an elite high school together. Little do either know, as the pair are first dabbling in hatred and imagining belonging to the HJ (Hitler Youth), that Daniel's parents will soon reveal to him that his mother is actually Jewish.

"Daniel looked at his father. 'Why did you do it?' he asked. 'Why did you marry a Jewess?'
Rheinhard stared at him. 'Why I did what?'
That's why I'm half Jewish now,' Daniel said. 'Because you married a Jewess.'
Rheinhard didn't answer. He gave David a look that hurt more than the smack in the face he gave him next."

Desperately trying to keep his horrible secret from everyone including Armin, Daniel is furious when his cousin Miriam shows up to live with them after her father (Daniel's mother's brother) is taken into custody. And although his father's honored position as a decorated German W.W.I veteran allows Daniel's tenuous continuation at school, Daniel slowly is forced to internalize the position in which he has found himself:

"I'm the lowest. That's how I felt. Someone you don't even greet. A nothing.
"And suddenly everything that I'd been keeping at a distance burst in on me: all the fear, all the shame, all the humiliation. I just stood there, on the sidewalk, in front of some store window as people walked by me. I stood in their way, got shoved, and a short man with a hat on said, 'Look out,' when it was he who should have looked out.
"And in that moment I knew hatred. I followed my erstwhile teammates with my eyes, and I hated every one of them. I imagined running up to the bunch, grabbing Klaus, spinning him around, letting him have it--in the face with my fist. Till the blood gushed out.
"But my hand didn't hurt him. Every blow I dealt him hurt him not at all, hurt only me. It hurt so much, I tried with all my might to obliterate this scene, erase it from my mind."

It is ultimately Armin's attraction to Miriam that threatens the lives of Daniel's extended family, because Armin is a rising star in the HJ--which he's joined against his father's wishes--and Armin is being carefully watched.

"Dr. Knoppe raised his eyes and voice. 'The dishonorable, dirty Jew looks with envy on the noble Nordic-German people. And inside every Jew there dwells a diabolic need to drag the noble race down into the muck with him. No reasonable farmer would ever allow such interbreeding of cattle! But among humans, to our shame, it happens every day.' "

An intimate perspective on the insanity faced by a young Jew during the rise of Hitler (1933-39), DANIEL HALF HUMAN AND THE GOOD NAZI also examines the dusky recesses of that long-term relationship between Daniel and Armin. What, for me, was a startling conclusion to the story will surely leave readers dwelling upon their own ideas of friendship.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Daniel Half Human : And the Good Nazi, July 1, 2005

By 

Laura (IA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Daniel Half Human: And the Good Nazi (Richard Jackson Books (Atheneum Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

I loved this book! The Nazi/WWII era is one I have always found interesting and have read many books about it. This is one of the best. It portrays the Nazis effect on Aryans, Jews, youth, poor, rich, and adults.
The story is about Daniel, a regular teenage boy, who admires and wants to be a Nazi. All that changes when he learns he is Jewish. He is then faced with tough realizations and new appreciations. He goes from having many friends and a lot of money, to being on the run from the Nazis, having hardly any friends, with little money. However, his best friend Armin continues to be his friend but also continues his Nazi career.
This book really makes you think and I definitely recommend it.
If you are really interested in this time period, as I am, I also suggest you read: Until We Meet Again by Michael Korenblit and Kathleen Janger , The Pianist by Wladyslaw Szpilman, Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally, and Night by Eli Wiesel.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Haunting Book, May 22, 2005

By 

Will Nance "Conservative Thinker" (Paducah, KY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Daniel Half Human: And the Good Nazi (Richard Jackson Books (Atheneum Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

A very interesting book. A good read.

Daniel is one-half Jewish.

Daniel's father is Aryan and a war hero from WWI.

Daniel's mother is a Jew.

Daniel's best friend, Armin, is a member of the Hitler youth. Armin, being a patriotic German, finds himself in the position of being a leader in the most anti-Jew government ever, and, having a Jew as a best friend.

You can easily put yourself in any of the characters' positions, wondering what you would do if you were them. I am blue-eyed with a fair complexion and thus would have been considered a perfect Aryan. What would I have done if I had been Armin? What would I have done if my beloved wife was a Jew - not care about her anymore because the government says she's half-human?

We would all like to say that we would have stood up to the Hitler government and resisted.

It's hard to describe the feelings you'll have after reading this book, but if you're like me, you'll think about it long after you've finished the book.