Based on a true story about a young boy growing up under the Third Reich.
Karl Veth, the oldest of three children, was born in Berlin, Germany in 1930. By the time he was old enough to start school and begin his education, Hitler had already established a firm death-grip on the country. Children were fed a steady diet of Nazi propaganda and were often encouraged to turn on their family and … family and friends but contrary to popular belief, not all of them bought into it.
Karl is an intelligent young boy who strives to excel in his studies, but he questions everything. Dangerous questions during a time when people are closely monitored. Karl’s father and grandfather are not blind followers and they have their own opinions about Hitler and his regime. The lessons they teach Karl often contradict what he is taught in school, yet they also inspire him to think on his own and form his own opinions.
German law mandates that all children must become members of the Hitler Youth and at the age of 10, Karl enters the Jungvolk, the junior branch of the Hitler Youth. He must wade through the propaganda and everything he is taught to decide for himself what is right and what it wrong. Little does he know at the time, but many of his grandfather’s predictions about the future of the Third Reich will eventually come to pass. The lessons he learns now and the opinions he forms will determine his fate in dangerous times ahead.
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I love reading historical accounts written by people who actually lived through the events, and particularly when it comes to my main sphere of interest, WW2. “Children to a Degree” is a wonderful research source for everyone who wants to know what life was like for German children during the war. I’ve known quite a bit about the structure and …
I enjoyed reading this perspective of Germany’s WWII children prior to their entrance into the Hitler Youth. While this work and series is fiction, it is based upon actual people and events, so the portrait is reflective. Christian’s prose style, while not elaborate, is effective, and would make for good reading in a 7th or 8th grade history …
This book is about growing up In Berlin, Germany during World War 2. It shows how the children lived and went to school during the daily bombings of the city and Nazi propaganda. It goes into how the government tried to brainwash the kids and turn them into little spies who were then Instucted, by their teachers, to rat out their parents and …
Love the characters! I liked how he was wanting to grow up but still wasn’t sure about things yet. But after the third book, well…. how things change and now how he missed what was taken from him. The remaining Of his youth. I just had to read all of the books. I’m on the last one now.
Loved the book though not necessarily the story though beautifully written. Readily explaining “things” as they were in the 1940s in Germany … and so a child could understand. So many wonderful points noted in a very simplistic manner. Could not put it down … And now on to BOOK 2. Thank you Horst Christian for telling an awful story with such …
This book was a relatively easy read and an interesting subject. You feel a part of the action. Every chapter makes you want to find out more and to see what happens next. It covers a subject that hasn’t been written about much. I thought it was very good book, makes you want to read the next in the series.
I thought I’d really enjoy the book as it is a subject matter often overlooked by authors. All I can say though is meh. Didn’t hate it, didn’t love it either.
I liked this book for its frank and simple way of demonstrating the unfolding of how swiftly Nazi power took root. It is first in a series and I would read the rest of the series. I also like that is a first hand account.
Interesting to read a book on Nazi Germany from a child’s Point of view. Very different perspective
Very interesting book about the youth in Nazi Germany. Good fast read and will read other books by this author.
What a great story and how sad that war brings such sorrows. This book was so good that I had to continue reading and ordered the rest of the books telling the whole story.
I liked it and suspect I will be eventually obtaining the sequels.
I learned a lot from this book and look forward to reading the others in this series. I was actually shocked when I realized the book was over. I want to know more.
It was nice to see ww2 from a kid point of view
Slow
Very unrealistic. Is sounded more like a man who was polishing up his childhood. to make it better than it was. Not at all what I was expecting or wanting.