Book Description: "A CHILD OF HITLER: GERMANY IN THE DAYS WHEN GOD WORE A SWASTIKA" is the no-holds-barred autobiography of a high-ranking leader of the Hitler Youth, who now is an American citizen and a nationally recognized authority on Nazi youth indoctrination. The book is required reading in over 380 universities and schools.
A bottoms up look at Hitlers followers This book is an autobiography of a young man of the Hitler Youth organization and explains the deep public support for Hitler, especially among young people. What is surprising is how long after the war it was before young Alfon saw and realized the depth and breath of the tragedy that the Nazi's inflicted on Germany, the Jews, and the world. It goes a long way to explain and reinforce how hard-headed the Germans really were in devotion to Hitler.
A Fantastic Personal Account of Life During War Mr heck's book gives the reader a true insight into life in a militarized society. His details--from family members to the region near his home, paint a vivid picture of what happened in a rural part of Germany. many of his descriptions--his home and town, his service, and his travels, have not changed all that much since 1945. Much like Charles MacDonald's "Company Commander", this book takes the reader directly to the action.
Just the Facts I enjoyed this book because Heck simply states the facts. There is not a lot of philosophizing - in straightforward language, he tells it as he experienced it. His story is interesting and moving and illustrates how children were used to further Hitler's goals. Heck died recently. I hope he has found peace.
A must read to understand how entire nations can go wrong I first heard of this book in the late 1980s, when I was at Western Kentucky University. Alfons Heck was touring universities with a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust, and together they would tell the stories. Mr. Heck was amazing -- a sweet, gentle old man, now not only horrified at what he had participated in, but very worried that this could happen again, that people could allow themselves to be twisted in such a way. It was his message over and over -- look for ways that you are being manipulated, think twice before you look for blame on how your life or the economy is going, or you get caught up in a movement, etc. I bought the book right then and there. It is not a very well-written book, true, but the honesty and detail are spell-binding and put this book in the five star range. It's a must-read for anyone wanting to try to understand how entire communities/nations can go so very wrong. I had him sign my copy, and he said at the time that the rights had been bought to make it into a movie. I asked him who he wanted to play his part. He looked up from the book, smiled, and said, "Someone good-looking!" The Jewish lady he was touring with came up at last and put her hand on his shoulder. "Alfons, Alfons, we must go now. We have to go." It was said with such affection.
Excellent book I think a book is good if it is thought provoking, enjoyable reading, written in an easy-to-read style. Although the style I found not so easy to read, I found this book very thought provoking and enjoyable. I was able to identify (somewhat tenuously) with this Nazi zealot. I was able to feel that "there but for the grace of God (went) I". This, despite the fact that his twin brother was not as zealous as he, that he saw his best friend taken away as a subhuman Jew, that even the people of his small town knew about concentration camps (what did he think went on there?), and that he witnessed a proud old German Jew WWI veteran, who had lost his leg in that war, punched in the nose till blood spurt forth merely because he complained that he could not get into the truck due to his missing a leg. I wish the author had written somewhat about how he managed to rationalize away these things he witnessed directly. But then, what can he say? We all want to see ourselves as superior to others and must work at learning that the ugly, the short,the blacks, homosexuals, women, the crippled, the retarded, the mentally ill etc. are just as good as we are. Certainly there are plenty of prejudices present here in the USA also and if we had gone through what Germany went through prior to Hitler's ascendancy, we might also be susceptible to a leader such as he. At any rate, I found this honest personal history very enlightening. One example: he says "I wish I could shoot the bastard who killed them (his dog and horse)" to which the General replies, "Nothing wrong with a desire for revenge." This sentiment seems so normal on the face of it, but he was a Catholic and don't they teach, "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord"? I'd like to think an American general would say to me, "My boy, war is hell. They kill our loved ones and we kill their loved ones". At any rate,I thought this was a great book. I would recommend it for a book group, so that members would be prompted to discuss the issues it raises.
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