"In the [1930s] the Nazi party had its own plans for the children of the new Reich. The weak would be banished and only the strong would survive. An entire generation brainwashed and raised on Nazi ideology, the bond between the children and family broken, the church's influence was dismissed and ... education and [moral] guidance would be strictly controlled by the State. The boys of the Hitler Youth never stood a chance, from the playing fields to the slaughter house in the East they happily marched into the abyss. For the boys born in 1926 there would be a new special Division, made up entirely of teenagers all born in that one year, 1926. Schooled in the art of killing from the very best, the 12th SS HJ Division would sacrifice [itself] again and again. Caution and military analysis were given no thought, they had been raised to die for their Fuhrer and this they gladly did."--Back cover.

How was it an entire cultured nation allowed their children to be raised by a political party with an ideology of hate? Stories of the fanatical bravery of the young men and children of the Reich on the battlefields of Europe are abundant.It is easy to admire the courage of the Hitler Youth as they battled relentlessly against the Allied and Soviet armies. But when one looks at it in the cold light of day, one cannot fail to be overwhelmed with the senseless loss of life. Millions butchered for an old man's nightmare vision of a world he hated and wanted to see burn. His failure to face the facts, combined with the Allies demand for unconditional surrender resulted in an entire generation consumed to the abyss. The Wehrmacht, the Hitler Youth, the Volkssturm and the children were all in the end just gristle for the Reich's mill. This book covers the whole story of a generation of young Germans, from the rebirth of a Nation to its consignment to the abyss and their role in this calamity.Includes many photos.

In modern times, the recruitment of children into a political organization and ideology reached its boldest embodiment in the Hitler Youth, founded in 1933 soon after the Nazi Party assumed power in Germany. Determining that by age ten children’s minds could be turned from play to politics, the regime inducted nearly all German juveniles between the ages of ten and eighteen into its state-run organization. The result was a potent tool for bending young minds and hearts to the will of Adolf Hitler. Baldur von Schirach headed a strict chain of command whose goal was to shift the adolescents’ sense of obedience from home and school to the racially defined Volk and the Third Reich. Luring boys and girls into Hitler Youth ranks by offering them status, uniforms, and weekend hikes, the Nazis turned campgrounds into premilitary training sites, air guns into machine guns, sing-alongs into marching drills, instruction into indoctrination, and children into Nazis. A few resisted for personal or political reasons, but the overwhelming majority enlisted. Drawing on original reports, letters, diaries, and memoirs, Michael H. Kater traces the history of the Hitler Youth, examining the means, degree, and impact of conversion, and the subsequent fate of young recruits. Millions of Hitler Youth joined the armed forces; thousands gleefully participated in the subjugation of foreign peoples and the obliteration of “racial aliens.” Although young, they committed crimes against humanity for which they cannot escape judgment. Their story stands as a harsh reminder of the moral bankruptcy of regimes that make children complicit in crimes of the state.

Deluxe A4 Edition of this new approach to the complete story of HMS Bounty, from its disastrous crew selection, the Mutiny, incitement of Polynesian wars, trials, executions, pardons, kidnaps, rapes and enslavement to the brutal island murders. Make no mistake, it may have been the beginning of the Romantic Age but there was nothing romantic about the Mutiny on the Bounty, why did Fletcher Christian choose oblivion over common sense on that hot sunny morning so long ago? Was it because far from freeing the crew from a perceived oppression he was actually mentally unstable? Where exactly was Peter Heywood and why did half the crew choose certain death in an open boat rather than sail away with the mutineers? Just some of the questions answered in this book, for the first time the whole story, the complete story, including the voyage of the Pandora, sent to capture the men that dared steal one of His Majesties ships.

This book covers the life of Knights cross winner SS-Sturmbannführer Werner Pötschke, a little known officer of the Waffen SS. This book also examines in detail the question of his personal involvement in the Malmédy massacre at the Baugnez crossroads. This book is not an expose of the Nazi organisation, or a concise history of the SS, it will not come to the jaw dropping conclusion that Werner Pötschke was or was not a Nazi, he was a committed Nazi, he was an officer in the Waffen SS, he was also a ferocious warrior and combat leader. He was also quite possibly a mass murderer. He was unusual in many ways, but what is truly striking about him is just how much front line combat he was personally engaged in during WWII. From the very beginning of the SS foundation unto the last month of the war this man was totally committed to the fight, unquestioning and uncompromising. For the 'men of steel' there was only victory or Valhalla.

A World War Two Historical Fiction Novel Based On A True StoryA true story about a young boy growing up under the Third Reich.Karl Veth, the eldest 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 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 friends; however, 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 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, 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.Books In The Series: Children To A DegreeLoyal To A DegreeTrust To A DegreePartners To A Degre