Customer Reviews

Hitler Youth

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Mr. Kater has given us a well documented and well presented work, as the title would indicate, addressing the history and working of the now infamous Hitler Youth. The author has been rather meticulous in presenting his source data, something that is always appreciated, and more often than not these days, not at all well done. Thank you Mr. Kater for that. While the average reader (that includes me) may find most of this book to be a bit on the dry side, it never-the-less is certainly worth the extra effort it may cost to read through it. This is an area little understood, and surprisingly very little is known of it. It is an area we should all pay very close attention to. It would be a horrible shame to look into a mirror and find ourselves there one day. Back to the book though. I would have personally liked to have seen more first hand account from the rank and file, i.e. exmembers of this group. As it stands, the author has used memories of what I feel are too many academic types who have obviously spent years formulating their thoughts on the subject. I sort of wonder what the "grunt" that remained a "grunt" after the war, now feels. What are their thoughts and feelings? This is just me though, and perhaps that would add little to the subject. All in all I highly recommend this one, for both students of this era and for those simply interested.

The author blends a large amount of primary material composed of both interviews of formal members and Nazi records to present this thourough insight into what appears to be all aspects of the Hitler Youth. Additionally, the author is an excellant writer who does not write on the HS level, nor does vomit vocabulary causing one to have to have a dictionary nearby as do so many other historians do.

As mentioned above, the author relies on numerious primary sources in his book. One of the strengths of this author is that he does not take an event and deem that a certain inference must be drawn. He gives the evidence ot the reader, perhaps suggests several possible inferences and allows he reader to decide. The author approached the critical issue of culpability for these teenagers in that way. At face value, the book's breakdown looks oversimplified as it only contains six chapters under the most general headings. As one reads it, one realizes how well the author makes these approach work.

To summerize, in my humble opinion, I believe this author presented this subject in an extraordinary manner. I do not pretend to be an expert on this eriod of history. Still, I do have some academic backround in early 20th century history in Europe. This has led to a lifetime of reading books dealing with that era. In my humble opinion, this book will become one of the leading books in that area.

Finally, I have to say I found the author's writing style and respect for the reader refreshing. The author clearly does not presume to tell the reader what they must conclude and assumes the reader is capable of thought. This author impressed so much that his other works have been placed on my reading and in his case, I will not worry that I am wasting 20 or 30 bucks at a pop.

In 1933, shortly after Adolf Hitler and his Nazis had assumed supreme power in Germany, the Hitler Youth was founded; an organization with mandatory membership for all "Aryan" German children, both boys and girls, from the age of ten. Eight years later the membership would come to an end, and the boys who now had grown up and become young men was ready for the Wehrmacht (the German army), SS, or some other partly or fully military occupation. And the girls, who were now young women, were for their parts ready for a life of childbearing and obedience to their German husbands.

Well, as we all know, things didn't really work out the way Hitler wanted them to, and twelve years after the founding of the Hitler Youth the Second World War came to an end, at a cost of millions upon millions of dead, wounded, or missing. And a large portion of German victims were existing or former members of the Hitler Youth. Along with the war becoming more and more desperate for the once so victorious Germans the soldiers fighting for their Fatherland became younger and younger. However, despite their young age - some of them not even sixteen years old - many of these Baby Soldiers (a nickname coined by the Allied troops) became infamous due to their merciless brutality and their fanatical devotion.

Michael H. Kater, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus of History at York University, Toronto, has written a tremendously fascinating book based on such sources as original reports, letters, and diaries, where he really digs deep in analyzing the circumstances that led to the founding of the Hitler Youth, the means and degrees of the systematic indoctrination beginning at the age of ten, and what fates awaited the young Nazis as their left the classrooms and came face to face with the unspeakable horrors of 20th century warfare.

But he also makes sure, and goes to great length, in exposing and revealing all the shortcomings and hypocrisy that were present in all sections of the national socialist party and politics. And it's actually these "revelations" that are the real treat of the book. Simply because perfectionism and discipline were two of the major foundations of the Nazi state, and thus it's quite an eye-opener to learn how inefficient and defective the system really was. Another interesting, and uncanny, lesson learned from it is the fact that even young children are capable of horrible deeds and how they must not be allowed to escape judgment just because they happen to be a few years away from reaching adulthood.

There had been child soldiers long before the birth of Hitler and up to this very day it's not uncommon that children are chosen to fight and die for conflicts resulting in grown-ups' inability to get along peacefully. Still, the exploitation of youth has never been done in a more massive scale than in Nazi Germany, and never have I read a better analysis than the one carried out by Michael H. Kater in Hitler Youth.

A most excellent book on the topic. The other reviewers express my assessments well, so this review will be a mercifully brief one.

Filled with interviews, stories, and facts from the Holocaust from the view of a child in the Hitler Youth Program, Hitler Youth, by Michael Kater, is a novel with opinions of adults formerly in the Hitler Youth. While the stories are interesting the opinions have been thought about for years and have been affected by first hand views and opinions found in other books and many online sites. Since they have had so much time to think about their opinions before being interviewed in this book they are not very reliable.

The children who participated in Hitler Youth were not aware of the opinions being thrusted upon them by Nazi supporters. They were just doing what their friends were doing and what was expected of them in society. We can compare this to Juana in The Pearl; she always did what society expected of her and that was to stick by her husband.

I personal did enjoy this book. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for information about Hitler Youth or interesting stories from the Holocaust. Even if opinions and stories may have differed from what they thought at the time these peoples stories are a good read.