Parallel Journeys [Paperback]

Eleanor H. Ayer (Author), Helen Waterford (Author), Alfons Heck (Author)

Book Description

She was a young German Jew.

He was an ardent member of the Hitler Youth.

This is the story of their parallel journey through World War II.

Helen Waterford and Alfons Heck were born just a few miles from each other in the German Rhineland. But their lives took radically different courses: Helen's to the Auschwitz extermination camp; Alfons to a high rank in the Hitler Youth.

While Helen was hiding in Amsterdam, Alfons was a fanatic believer in Hitler's "master race." While she was crammed in a cattle car bound for the death camp Auschwitz, he was a teenage commander of frontline troops, ready to fight and die for the glory of Hitler and the Fatherland. This book tells both of their stories, side-by-side, in an overwhelming account of the nightmare that was WWII. The riveting stories of these two remarkable people must stand as a powerful lesson to us all.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ayer juxtaposes the stories of two WWII youths, one a German Jew and the other a Hitler Youth, excerpted from their published memoirs. "Weak execution undermines the premise of the volume," said PW. Ages 10-up. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up?This is a book to make your blood run cold. Through Ayer's narrative and excerpts from Heck's memoirs, A Child of Hitler and The Burden of Hitler's Legacy, readers learn how Alfons changed from a loving, wholesome boy to a "Nazi devil" (even the Germans called the elite Hitler Youth by that name). It is frightening to see how easily young people can be swayed, and readers learn just how it happened. Alternating chapters reveal Helen Waterford's story through excerpts from her book, Commitment to the Dead, and Ayer's background material. Fleeing with her fiancee to Amsterdam after Kristallnacht, Helen was again caught in the Nazi noose and struggled to survive. As her plight grew more desperate, Alfons rose higher and higher in the Hitler Youth. Eventually, when he and his ragged corps faced annihilation by the Russians, he realized how Hitler had sacrificed his "children." When Alfons and Helen met in the U.S. 40 years after the war, they found that they shared a common purpose: to help young people understand that peace and compassion are possible between individuals, and on a larger scale as well. Their first-person accounts are interwoven with Ayer's words so seamlessly that readers are unaware of the intrusion of a third person. She is an excellent biographer, capturing nuances of her subjects' characters and personality traits. A fascinating work.?Marcia W. Posner, Holocaust Memorial and Educational Center of Nassau County, Glen Cove, NY
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Aladdin (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689832362
• ISBN-13: 978-0689832369
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,176 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Teens > History & Historical Fiction > Holocaust
  • #7 in Books > Children's Books > History > Holocaust
  • #8 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > History & Historical Fiction > Holocaust

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, February 10, 2000

By 

Devin (Us) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Parallel Journeys (Paperback)

This is a great book. It contrasts the views of a Hitler Youth and follower and a Jewish Prisoner very well. If you are interested at all in the Holocaust, this book is a must read. It is filled with interesting and horrifying facts. The author arranged this book well

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Parallel Journeys By Eleanor Ayer, November 20, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Parallel Journeys (Paperback)

Parallel Journeys
By:Eleanor Ayer


This book turned out to be a very good book. The front cover features Adolf Hitler with
thousands of his young supporters hailing him during World War Two. Books about the war
usually depress me so usually I wouldn't read them, but this book appealed to me because of the
faces of two teenagers on the front cover. That lead me to read the back cover which simply
said-He was an ardent member of the Hitler Youth. This is a story of the parallel journey through
World War II with Alfons Heck, and Helen Wohlfarth. It compares the two people who had
completely different experiences of the war and to let them tell their stories side by side. It tells
how Helen was treated bad during the war, and how Alfons was training to treat people like
Helen badly and get ready for the war. When I first started reading this book I noticed how
different it was to some of the other novels I have read about the holocaust. It's very chilling to
realize that it is non-fiction. It isn't based on a true story

I learned many things that I didn't know about the Holocaust. I never realized how bad it
was until I read this book. I was surprised to know how young some of the men were while in the
army. It was really sick to know that if they disobeyed an order they could be put to death. For
example, when Alfons thought an order he was given was a mistake and didn't follow it. He was
punished but luckily not killed. After he punished he never disobeyed an order again even if it was
to kill himself. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes war books especially World
War Two books.

Written by: Joe Boggs Madison Middle School

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Nazi son and a Jewish daughter -- together at last, April 10, 2001

By 

Brooke (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Parallel Journeys (Hardcover)

While they aren't from the same family, Helen Waterford and Alfons Heck have developed similar respect for one another that siblings have for each other. In their childhoods, these two never would have dreamed that they would be traveling the country together giving lectures at high schools and colleges. Heck was a rising power in the Hitler youth; Waterford a young Jewish girl suffering through concentration camps and death marches. Eleanor H. Ayer weaves the stories of both these survivors together beautifully. She incorporates the history of the Holocaust as well as personal testimony from Waterford and Heck. This really is a must read for anyone interested in the Holocaust or the oppression of Jews from 1933-1945.