He was an ardent member of the Hitler Youth.

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

What a great idea for a book! To compare two people who had completely different experiences of the war and to let them tell their stories side by side.

When I first started reading this book I noticed how different it was to some of the other novels I have read. Firstly, it is very chilling to realize that while this is in the form of a novel, it is also non-fiction. It isn’t based on a true story, it is a true story.

The Second World War took the lives of fifteen million soldiers around the world, thirty nine million civilians and 12 million Jewish people

The style of writing the author uses in this book is unlike any book I have read. Firstly, it is really written by three people, the German man, the German Jewish lady and the author (Eleanor Ayer) who has put it all together. The book is also factual and it tells it like it really was. Many other texts I have read about war either glorify war, making it seem somewhat romantic or exciting, or either are going all-out to inform us how bad war is and the devastation it causes. This book finds a happy medium, giving us the facts and telling us what happened, without asking for our sympathy, or admiration.

Hatred and discrimination is very much alive today, in the world and as well as in Australia. Whether somebody has a different colour skin, a different religion, a different sexuality or a have come from a different country, the world must learn to live with, and accept these people as human beings. Until this happens, our generation stands no chance of living in peace, being totally war-free.

Unfortunately at this time thousands of Jews were being shipped by cattle trucks and trains to many concentration camps being opened throughout Europe. While it is sickening to think of these extermination camps where millions of people were gassed, shot or died of cold and starvation it is important that people today know what happened to prevent it happening again.

Although what the German people did during WWII was evil and horrible I can now understand how it happened from reading this first chapter. If today in Australia, a person promised us a way to lower unemployment rates and improve the quality of life for the people, of course they would be listened to. Well, this is what Hitler did. The German people didn’t see him as a dictator or as a killer, but as someone who was doing something positive for the country.

Some topics in this essay:
Hitler Youth, Jewish European, Germans Helen, Germany Nazis, Adolf Hitler, Helen Waterford-, Eleanor Ayer, World War, War II”, Alfons Heck, fifty ago, hitler youth, german people, concentration camps, world war, alfons heck, tired living, tired living age, adolf hitler, people gassed, parents jewish, fifty ago millions, millions people gassed,