It’s a book with a story that needed to be told and written about. What Hitler’s boy soldiers were taught to believe in by birth and the sufferings they experienced during the (most often) end of World War Two is real and should not be overlooked nor ignored by the world. The people in power in Germany after World War I and before World War Two in-did (whether they fully understood what Hitler and his party aimed for and was capable of doing is an important question for another day!) The fact remains, when Hindenburg died he had been giving Hitler and his party the NSDAP enough power so when he died, the NSDAP were able of cease power in a controlled manner which back them appeared legitimate for the people. After Hitler and his henchmen came to power, and began implementing all kinds of new laws and regulations, I think it’s important for us to consider that what the grownups,- men and women did by supporting the NSDAP by voting for them and joining the official party, The NSDAP which stands for “Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei” is one side of the history, another side of the same history is the children, many very young at the time and even more were born into this authoritarian regime. The party NSDAP had a very strong agenda and they were fast in taking control over the media, and in particular they were the only ones with complete control over all schools and the curriculum that was taught in all schools, and who were allowed into these schools etc. The NSDAP introduced in the real early days of their takeover in Germany a “systemic policing system” which was a duty everyone was obliged to abide. It was designed in a way where all citizens, adults & children alike had the same duty of reporting anything that differed from the norm! The schools encouraged the students to spy on their own family members and friends of their families & and when they reported someone they were rewarded, I’d say this policing system was designed with the youngest members of the society in mind of the Nazis, due to the simple fact that the younger the person is the easier it’s for an adult to influence their minds Being born in a country where all norms have been turned upside down, and where the system targets everyone in different ways, no one is safe. Young children with no prior experience of any other way of living life didn’t really stand a chance in grasping the detrimental consequences of “the policing system” (spying) would have when their reports were known by the authorities and the actions the government would take against those who had been “outed.” (When I think of how cruel our spices are it makes me feel sick.)! Anyone who was either reported on, if someone was openly opposed by the NSDAP they’re ofc always found guilty, no due process was required + oftentimes (if not most times) a person who’s found guilty would soon learn that their nearest and dearest was also found guilty by association and if “lucky”, and not executed, they would be sent off to a “reeducation camp” for whatever amount of time the party felt like! I understand, & I too am guilty of not always have the capacity of holding two concepts as true at the same time. The fact remains though that two things during the same period of history in the same country under the same dictatorial regime can coexist and be true simultaneously. However I think it’s of utmost importance that one acknowledge that certain things in history certainly require a very long time before it can, even should start to be understood and processed, in particular when a country like “that of Nazi Germany” has committed atrocities against humanity in ways that have never in human history been seen before! So due to this fact I don’t think I personally could have taken this book in and made sense of it until now & still I did find myself thinking about the monstrous atrocities the Nazis committed in comparison with what “Hitler’s boy soldiers” endured. I do my best to keep these two separated from each other and see them as two completely different and sort of unrelated topics! Nevertheless the Nazis, the NSDAP was ruthless and many people had their entire lives ruined by their actions. So whilst I recognize that two things can be true simultaneously I’m still careful & want to emphasize the importance of separating the many different things that happened during world war 2 in general and by the NSDAP In particular/It happened but I don’t compare the atrocities! (I hope my thoughts make sense!) I recommend this book! It’s well researched & i learned a lot. Regards, Grace